Does Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians reveal a ‘historical’ Jesus?
The following represents a question and my (amended) response originally posted as comments on my Amazon review of Earl Doherty’s Jesus: Neither God Nor Man, a book making the case that the letters of St. Paul in the New Testament reveal no knowledge of a “historical” Jesus of Nazareth. The questioner asked me about 1 Corinthians 11:24-5, as “proof” that Paul did know a historical Jesus:
…and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
Firstly, the context needs to be included, which is that Paul says in verse 23 of First Corinthians:
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread…
The Last Supper
These verses are held up as evidence that Jesus really existed, because they are describing what has become known as the “Lord’s Supper” or “Last Supper,” which proponents claim is clearly a historical event, as depicted in the New Testament, as at Luke 22:7-30. In reading the pertinent passage in Luke, however, it should be kept in mind that biblical criticism has revealed several problems with not only these verses in Luke but also as concerns relevant passages in the other synoptic gospels (Mat 26:17-30; Mk 14:12-26). Moreover, there simply is no evidence for the existence of the canonical gospels as we have them by the time Paul wrote this epistle, so he could not have been relating “facts” from them. The reality is that Paul was not in attendance at the Last Supper and would be relaying hearsay at best.
As concerns Doherty, it should be noted that his book is some 800 pages long, and he covers just about every detail in it, including these verses over numerous pages (pp. 18, 48-49, 70, 71, 86, 140-2, 175, 392). Earl’s earlier work, The Jesus Puzzle, released in 1999, also dealt extensively with this particular scripture. It is therefore not a new objection to him or me and has already been addressed. Regarding 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, Doherty says (JNGNM, 18):
Here Paul attributes words to Jesus at what he calls “The Lord’s Supper,” words identifying the bread and wine of that “supper” with Jesus’ body and blood. But is Paul recounting an historical event here? There are several arguments to be made that this is not the case, that Paul is instead describing something which lay in the realm of myth, similar to sacred meal myths, found in many of the Greek savior god cults, such as that of Mithras. In fact, the opening phrase of the passage points to Paul’s reception of this information through revelation, not through an account of others who were supposedly participants at such an event. This is an important passage, and it will be discussed in fuller detail at several points later. For now, it does not have to be regarded as a necessary reference to an historical Jesus who had lived on earth in Paul’s own lifetime.
Doherty then goes on to produce an extensive analysis of the passage, including the Greek used to introduce it, which has Paul contending he received this knowledge “through revelation,” not as a historical account. The word translated as “received” in the Greek is παραλαμβάνω or paralambano, which means, among other things “to receive something transmitted,” “to receive with the mind,” as by oral tradition. We know that Paul never met the “historical” Jesus, so his reception of this transmitted information is psychic or spiritual, not physical. He is then “delivering” the “channeled” information to his audience, implying that Paul is the source of the Lord’s Supper pericope later fleshed out by the evangelists. In other words, Paul is not recounting something that he saw in the flesh, and, again, he is therefore not an eyewitness to this purported event. Indeed, as Doherty clearly shows, Paul’s discussion of Jesus is very mystical, supernatural and unreal, as in allegorical and mythical.
Old Testament ‘Prophecy’ or Blueprint?
Secondly, as concerns 1 Corinthians 11:23, Dr. Robert Price discusses the Last Supper as a midrash of Psalm 41:9: “Even my bosom friend in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” Hence, the “betrayal” related by Paul is likewise allegorical, based on Old Testament scripture or “messianic prophecy.” (For details, see Price’s article “New Testament Narrative as Old Testament Midrash.”)
Isaiah 53:12 is likewise pointed to as a source for the Last Supper:
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Earlier in 1 Corinthians (10:3-4), Paul refers specifically to the sacred meal shared by Moses and his followers in the desert:
…and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
Certainly, in referring to the Old Testament scripture (Exd 17:6; Num 20:11) Paul was speaking spiritually and allegorically, as he surely did not mean that a man named “Jesus of Nazareth” was following the Jews around during the Exodus, dressed as a rock. Clearly, here is a precedent upon which, some verses later, Paul could easily build a metaphorical “Lord’s Supper,” a concept he claimed to have received through “revelation,” rather than depicting a historical event.
A Mithraic Ritual?
It is further interesting to note that the Greek word for “rock” is πέτρα or “petra,” (same as “petros,” as in “Peter”), which Paul (1 Cor 10:4) equates with “christos” (ἡ πέτρα δὲ ἦν ὁ Χριστός) or “the anointed,” a title held by several individuals in the Old Testament. The Perso-Roman god Mithra too was the “theos ek petras” or “god of the rock,” who was the god of the Persian king Cyrus, the latter likewise called “christos” in the Greek Old Testament/Septuagint. (Isa 45:1)
Moreover, the city of Tarsus, where Paul was said to be from, was the Asian Minor center from which Mithraism spread during the first centuries BCE/CE. As New Testament scholar Dr. Jonathan A. Draper remarks:
The first mention we have of the Mithraic cult in the Roman Orient is in Tarsus (Cilicia), the home of a number of Stoic philosophers and of the worshiping of Herakles Sandan, the bull-killer, and also the place where Saul of Tarsus started his strange path. (Draper, Orality, Literacy and Colonialism in Antiquity, Brill, 2004, p. 104)
Factoring in the connections to Mithraism already mentioned, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that Paul was relating a mystery in order to appeal to Mithra followers. As I discuss in depth in my book Christ in Egypt: The Horus Jesus Connection, there are likewise a sacred meal and Last Supper in the Egyptian religion among others. Again, there is no reason to assume that these biblical scriptures refer to an historical event.
Jesus or Joshua?
In addition, when analyzing the word “Jesus” used by Paul, as in “Lord Jesus,” it should be kept in mind that the New Testament writers largely utilized the Greek Old Testament or Septuagint (“LXX”). In the Hebrew Old Testament, the name יהושוע or Yehoshua (“Joshua”) appears some 218 times, rendered in the LXX as Ἰησοῦς or Jesus. Hence, any reader or hearer of the Greek translation of the Jewish scriptures – used widely by Hellenized Jews of the Diaspora – would have seen or heard this name “Jesus” many times, referring to several different Joshuas, including and especially the Old Testament hero and companion of Moses.
In my book Suns of God, in a lengthy section about Joshua as a pre-Christian savior figure (476ff), I relate that, per the Jewish philosopher Philo and various Church fathers, Joshua was the “angel” at Exodus 23:20 who, accompanying the people out of Egypt, led Israel to the Promised Land. The name Joshua/Jesus means “savior,” and, indeed, in the pre-Christian text The Wisdom of Jesus, Ben Sirach or Ecclesiasticus (46:1-8), Joshua is styled the “great savior of God’s chosen ones.” Church fathers such as Justin Martyr (Trypho, 113) described Joshua as a “figure of Christ” or “type of Jesus,” and the two are frequently interchanged or confused in early Christian writings as well as their translations from the Greek. In consideration of all these facts, it is quite possible that Paul was referring to this mystical savior/angel and “figure of Christ,” Joshua, rather than a purported “historical Jesus.”
Furthermore, it is wise to remember that the Pauline epistles have been interpolated in many places, a fact known by many scholars previous to Doherty who have seen few indications of a “historical” Jesus in these letters. The summary of Paul’s Christ as a mystical and midrashic Jewish-Pagan hybrid remains sound.
26 thoughts on “Does Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians reveal a ‘historical’ Jesus?”
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Mr
So the “Holy” Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church was founded (by Constantine I) on the basis of myths and hence lies and thus all Christians are accepting these les as facts to be believed without question. It is about time they woke up to the truth – NO GOD, Jesus/Joshua was not the Son of God.
CHRIST does not exist as organic flesh
You read the scriptures amiss if you think that the flesh and blood of Christ is organic material. The sacred scriptures is the Body of Christ. The true interpretation thereof is the Blood of Christ. Between these two is the Eucharist.
All the ancient saints have said that the tomb of Christ is the sacred scriptures. When you interpret the text correctly you raise Christ from the dead.
:cheer: If you were a Catholic and attended Holy Mass you would know that the structure of the Mass is the reading of three sections of the sacred scriptures by the laity, then a homily is given by the priest and then the Eucharistic wafer given to the congregation at the close of the Mass. These three are one: the sacred scriptures (body), the homily (blood), the host (Eucharist).
If you believe that God can be crammed into a thimble (human body) you are not reasoning properly. How can infinity be placed into a finite form? Think about all the organic functions of the human body. How can god urinate or defecate? Such a possibility infers the annihilation of divinity or the creation of an enumerable amount of holy sites around the world. Most people do not use their God given cognitive abilities. :cheer:
scapegoat mythology
Scapegoats were common in ancient mythology. All the sins of the tribe were transferred to an undesirable member of the community, who was then treated to a feast, crowned in a mock fashion, beaten with branches as he was driven out of town with everyone’s sins with him.
The “Last Supper” is the feast of the scapegoat.
Rather than viewing it as evidence of the historical Jesus it is evidence of the mythological Jesus.
Gnostic Paul’s Christ
Thanks Acharya,
I concur with the thesis of the Jewish-Pagan myth construct, it’s the most probable explanation of the Jesus story to date, and it resonates at a deep intuitive level with me.
As Freke and Gandy point out in their works, Paul’s letters were placed AFTER the gospels in the New Testament to make it appear like he was referring to the “historical” Jesus that the gospel narratives try to set up and convey. The unsuspecting bible reader simply reads that historical presumption unconsciously into Paul when they finally come to him. Clever!
If, on the other hand, his letters were placed BEFORE the gospels, where they surely belong in their more revealing chronological context (subtracting of course the forgeries) the fact that there is virtually no mention of his Jesus ever being on earth betrays his probable Gnostic orientation and the later Gospels as more likely an attempt to flesh out his skeletal Christ mythos with “literal historical” accretions placed in to their unfolding narratives. Thus the New Testament becomes more a testament to the evolution of the construction of a myth over time–and to political intrigue–than to anything else. Which is what it really is.
Thanks again, wonderful work.
PS: Ever thought of taking on and exposing the religion of Statism? The worship of “government” (the ruling class) is the most dangerous religion on earth, bearing by far the most adherents while remaining the least recognized–and thus least challenged–religion of all! It has its temple domes and its inner rituals therein, it’s legislative high priests, its “laws”, its special rhetoric and propaganda, and of course its pledges of allegiance by mandate for school children, all to the oppression of our otherwise free-thinking, open-minded humanity, the religion of pure aggression and war itself, going virtually unchallenged to this day! Food for thought anyway. 🙂
YOU ARE RIGHT!!…IF ANYTHING, I AM GOD. WE ARE COLLECTIVELY THE GOD CONSCIENCE, PERHAPS!..HARD TO ACCEPT IN THESE TIMES.
THE TRUTH AWAITS THOSE THAT WILL NOT SEE, WE KNOW BETTER THAN TO ARGUE OR TO JUDGE.
Original Greek
It never surprises me to see how revealing the meaning of a biblical passage becomes when the original Greek words are traced and translated. So much meaning has been lost, twisted and mistranslated by time, tradition, interpolation and simple ignorance.
As the song goes, “A man believes what he wants to believe and disregards the rest…”
Do any of the other apostles acknowledge Paul as an apostle? Or how he was selected for apostleship? With Jesus gone and Peter moved up into the papal position the two vacancies were filled but Paul wasn’t one of them. Didn’t Paul first talk about the concept of hell?
It seems that Paul declared himself an apostle. And since Paul and his cohorts wrote much of the New Testament while the “pillars” of the church whom Paul attacked wrote much les, it’s Paul’s version of events that has been passed down to us over the millennia.
>>William John Meegan wrote>The sacred scriptures is the Body of Christ. The true interpretation thereof is the Blood of Christ. Between these two is the Eucharist.>All the ancient saints have said that the tomb of Christ is the sacred scriptures. When you interpret the text correctly you raise Christ from the dead.>
If you were a Catholic and attended Holy Mass you would know that the structure of the Mass is the reading of three sections of the sacred scriptures by the laity, then a homily is given by the priest and then the Eucharistic wafer given to the congregation at the close of the Mass. These three are one: the sacred scriptures (body), the homily (blood), the host (Eucharist).>
If you believe that God can be crammed into a thimble (human body) you are not reasoning properly. How can infinity be placed into a finite form? Think about all the organic functions of the human body. How can god urinate or defecate? Such a possibility infers the annihilation of divinity or the creation of an enumerable amount of holy sites around the world. Most people do not use their God given cognitive abilities.< How about a Star fragment then? Into the Heart and Soul of every human on earth? I’ve never thought of a Spirit urinating before? Does not the lower human animal perform that part? The higher all human incarnated perfected spirit principle, has more important things to take care of. The Body is to the Christ Soul; As the Horse is to the Rider. And you’d have the Soul Spark Urinating? How about the Horse? At least the wiser portion of humanity does not symbolically eat it’s God over and over again. How many times do you wish to re-crucify your symbolic God? When he became entangled within your own Self Flesh, was that not good enough? Why do you keep killing him over and over again?
Jesus is clearly a composite, not a single historical person. That is, he was a blend of several real people or their fictional afterlives, combined with an assortment of mostly pagan mythology. The 12 disciples are clearly the zodiac.
Jesus life parallels the planting crops mythology ,,, you sacrifice seed, bury in virgin mother earth, and the plant is reborn/resurrected/reincarnated to provide food in harvest time (the bread and beer of life). The cycle seems eternal, able to continue year after year, forever and ever.
Jesus is mythical, a personified plant.
Ditto this guy
I totally agree with this guy:
“Ever thought of taking on and exposing the religion of Statism? The worship of “government” (the ruling class) is the most dangerous religion on earth, bearing by far the most adherents while remaining the least recognized–and thus least challenged–religion of all!”
You can spit on the so-called gods like jesus, buddha, etc… but not stand for the Flag? That could get you hurt. You worship whom you serve and almost everybody serves the State god. Killing and warring in the name of the State god is heroic, any other situation is considered murder. Go figure.
PETER?
INTERESTING PREMISE BUT DIDN’T PAUL RECEIVE THE INFO FROM PETER AND THE OTHER APOSTLES.
SO HE WASN’T THERE BUT HE WAS WITH PEOPLE THAT WERE THERE. THEREFORE HE WASN’T WRITING FROM A HISTORICAL FACT ABOUT THE THINGS THAT YOU WROTE, THE MYTHS AND SO ON FROM THE PAST. HE WAS WRITING WHAT HE WAS TOLD.
AND IT WASN’T JUST PETER BUT ALL OF THE APOSTLES. QUITE A CONSPIRACY IF THEY WERE ALL TELLING PAUL THE SAME FIRST HAND ACCOUNT AND WERE LYING.
AND WHY THIS GUY NAMED SAUL, PAUL, WHY NOT SOMEONE ELSE? ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES HE WAS STRUCK DOWN AND BLINDED FOR A WHILE AND WAS TOLD THAT WAS JESUS THAT DID THAT BY JESUS.
SAUL, SAUL, WHY DO YOU KICK AGAINST THE PRICKS.
PRETTY GOOD CONINCIDENCE THAT IT WAS THIS SAUL THAT EXPERIENCED THIS AND THEN RAN AROUND WITH THE APOSTLES THAT WERE THERE AND THEN WROTE THIS STUFF.
I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SAYING ABOUT THE HISTORICAL MYTHS AND THE SIMILARITIES WITH JESUS, THE ROCK AND ALL THAT, BUT COULD THAT HAVE BEEN “PRE-CURSORS” TO WHAT WAS COMING, THE COMING OF THE REAL MESSIAH OR CHRIST.
FOUND FOR THOUGHT. I DO ENJOY YOU’RE WRITING. IF NOTHING ELSE IT GIVES SOME NEW PERSPECTIVE, KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION.
Dear Larry, Why are you YELLING?
All the Sacred Mythos of the Sun-Gods. The Hero (The Soul, The Speaker) in the Ancient Mysteries Dramas’, is always caught up in a Cave/Tomb/Egypt/Prison all being symbolic of your (Everyone’s) Human Body. I might note, this is symbolically represented also in the Great Pyramid–as well !! The SUN in the sky was always a Symbol of the Soul within each Man. Ironically, if I understand the Mythos correctly, the Soul was always typed Female? Probably, because it was entangled within Matter (Mother) here below. Jesus in the Mythos of Revelation, has female paps! As he represents the Soul in the Allegorical Myth.
Plato’s ‘Cave’ allegory. Mythical St. Paul was burst from ‘Prison’. I thought Eusebius the Churchianity Historian said the Epistles, were Essenian materials? So how could they be Mythical Pauls?
Ohhh the Literial Interpretation has caught everyone in a snare! Transfer the Sacred Mythos, back over into the Subjective World–where they always first belonged!!
And why are my messages getting truncated? Someone editing? They do not want certain people to know the (partial) Truth?
Horus gave the Eucharist too
Book of Gates Chapter 5
Then saith Horus unto those gods who are behind the shrine:–
“Make inquisition for me, O gods who are in the following of Khenti Amenti, stand ye up, and withdraw ye not yourselves, and be ye masters over yourselves, and come, and live delicately on the bread of HU, and drink ye of the ale of Maat, and live ye upon that whereon my father liveth there. That which belongeth to you in the hidden place is to be behind the shrine, according to the commandment of Ra. I call unto you, and behold, it is for you to do what it is your duty [to do].’ Their meat consisteth of cakes of bread, and their ale is of the tchesert drink, and their libations are [made with] cool water. Their food is given unto them by the guardian of the things which are in the shrine. And Horus saith unto these gods:–‘Smite ye the enemies of my father, and hurl ye them down into your pits because of that deadly evil which they have done against the Great One, [which] found (?) him that begot me. That which belongeth to you to do in the Tuat is to guard the pits of fire according as Ra hath commanded, and I set [this] before you so that, behold, ye may do according to what belongeth to you [to do].’ This god standeth over (or, by) the pits.”
Note, Horus said this to the “twelve gods Khenti Amenti”…aka followers behind the shrine
In Chapter 3 of the Book of Gates, it describes these followers as:
On the right of the boat are twenty-four gods, the first twelve of whom are described as “those who are at peace, the worshippers of Ra,” and the second twelve as “the righteous who are in the Tuat.” These beings are thus described by the accompanying text:–
“These [are they who] have worshipped (or, praised) Ra upon earth, who uttered words of power against Apep, who made their offerings unto him, and who burnt (literally, made) incense to their gods on their own behalf, after their offerings. They have gained possession of their cool waters, and they receive their meat, and they eat of their offerings in the gateway of him whose name is hidden. Their meat is by the gateway, and their offerings are with him. who is therein. And Ra saith unto them:–‘Your offerings are yours, ye have power over your cool waters, your souls shall never be hacked to pieces, your meat shall never fail, [O ye who have] praised [me], and have vanquished Apep for me.'”
The above passage refers to the “worshippers of Ra who are at peace.”
Knowledge is power !
In Bill Maher’s movie ‘Religulous’ he states that “there is humility in doubt”.
When intelligent, open minded people dig deep and read, they discover the truth can be uncovered. I applaud Acharya for providing humanity rational, investigative thoughts of religions. EVERYTHING needs to be put under a microscope and dissected. In this manor man can understand his existence and purpose.
It’s about time that this great “Christian nation” really look for the truths.
Apostle Paul: The Lie that Forever Changed the Wor
PAUL: THE LIE THAT FOREVER CHANGED THE WORLD
When I tell my friends that there is no way Paul could be a disciple because at the time Jesus walked among men, Paul was either a toddler or yet unborn; they looked at me as if I was from another planet. They didn’t know. When I tell them that Paul was in fact the original anti-Christ, they think I am just being mean. I have yet to meet a Christian who knows the real story of Saul who later changed his name to Paul when he founded Christianity.
I always wonder why laymen and priests, televangelists and preachers refer to Saul as the Disciple Paul. I used to go to church with friends, listen to preachers and watch evangelists on the screen and in my younger days, I always believe that Paul was one of the 12. I grew up with Christian friends. They are the best of friends I ever had, then and now. I read the 4 gospels of the Bible long before I ever lay my hand on an English translation of the Qur’an. When I discovered the Beast 666 in the beginning of the Gulf War, I read the bible from beginning to end and in Saudi Arabia of all places. At least after one reading, I can modestly say that I know more about the Bible than most Christians I know. My country is the catholic bastion in Asia but rarely could you find anyone who have read the Old Testament. They pick up their knowledge from here and there. Also, I DISCOVERED IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS THAT THE 6 DAYS CREATION REFERRED TO GOD’S TIME NOT EARTHLING’S. HOW FOR INSTANCE COULD THERE BE A MORNING AND AN EVENING AFTER EACH OF THE FIRST 3 DAYS OF CREATION IF THE SUN AND THE MOON WERE CREATED ON THE 4TH DAY, TWO HEAVENLY BODIES UPON WHICH OUR CONCEPTION OF TIME IS BASED.
After Jesus had left, his followers campaigned intensely to bring about changes that Jesus wanted. They are dividing the Jewish hierarchy that threatened to destabilize the house of David. The job of Saul was to spy on Jesus’ followers and had them thrown into Jail or murdered but they were unstoppable. The greatest threat was the appeal of Jesus’ reforms to the Gentiles. THE JEWS WERE TERRIFIED THAT THE GENTILES WILL ADAPT THE JEWISH RELIGION AND WITH THE REFORMS THAT JUSUS’ FOLLWERS WERE BRINGING TO THE FAITH, JUDAISM WAS TRULY AT THE BRINK.
There is no doubt that the story of Jesus was a recycled divine myth that had worked so well before Jesus came into the scene. If there was any one or any group knowledgeable of the divine myths, it was the Jewish people. They are not only geniuses; they are the keeper of the books. I don’t doubt for a moment that there was a prophet named Esau or Issa that later evolved to become Jesus. The gentiles needed a hero, a god so the Jewish priesthood gave them Jesus but there had to be someone who can deliver the message. Saul was unqualified because he was persecuting Jesus’ followers but the Jews were cunning geniuses. By turning Jesus into a God, his mission to reform the Jewish religion was doomed. If they didn’t, there would have been bloodshed comparable to the river of blood that flowed in the history of Christianity when Catholics and Protestants parted ways or when Moslems divided into the Sunnis and the Shiites. THEY TURNED SAUL INTO A REPENTANT SAINT AND BY CONCOCTING THE STORY ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS; THEY MADE HIM THE 13TH DISCIPLE AND CHANGED HIS NAME TO PAUL. THE JEWISH CONSPIRATORS MADE IT SURE THAT ALL JEWISH NAMES ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEW RELIGION ARE RENAMED WITH GENTILE’S NAMES INCLUDING JESUS’ REAL NAME. THEIR HATE OF JESUS KNOWS NO BOUND MAINTAINING TO THIS DAY THAT HE WAS THE BASTARD SON OF A ROMAN SOLDIER AND YET CHRISTIANS ALWAYS TREAT THEM AS GOD’S DIVINE FAMILY. IN THE FAMILY FEUD BETWEEN ISHMAEL’S AND ISAAC’S GENERATIONS, CHRISTIANS ALWAYS TAKE THE SIDE OF THE JEWS NO MATTER HOW WRONG THEY ARE.
YOU BE THE JUDGE.
“Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him. And he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And he said, “Who are you Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, but rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” Then men who were traveling with him stood speechless HEARING THE VOICE BUT SEEING NO ONE.” Acts 9:3-7
“As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven shone about me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” And I answered, “Who are you Lord?” and he said to me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.” NOW THOSE WHO WERE WITH ME SAW THE LIGHT BUT DID NOT HEAR THE VOICE OF THE ONE WHO WAS SPEAKING TO ME. And I said, “What shall I do, Lord?” And the Lord said to me, “Rise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.” Acts 22:6-10
“Thus I journey to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priest. At midday, O King, I saw on the way A LIGHT FROM HEAVEN, BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN, SHINNING round me and those who journey with me. And WHEN WE HAD ALL FALLEN TO THE GROUND, I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew language, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It hurts to kick against the goads. “And I said, “Who are you, Lord? And he Lord said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appear to you for this, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. Delivering you from the people and from the gentiles to whom I send to you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” Acts 26:12-18
IN THE FIRST, SAUL’S COMPANY HEARD THE VOICE BUT DID NOT SEE THE LIGHT AND IN THE SECOND, THE COMPANIONS SAW THE LIGHT BUT DID NOT HEAR THE VOICE AND IN THE THIRD, THEY ALL FELL TO THE GROUND. Saul obviously developed the story as he saw fit but even then, he must have a very poor memory for narrating the same fantasy story very differently. If it were an actual event, not a lie, the story would have been more consistent because the memory imprint will be more permanent, unvaried like a video being replayed every time.
I wonder how for two thousand years, billions of the dead and the living believed an obvious lie. “WHY ARE YOU TELLING THESE PEOPLE THAT I SPOKE TO YOU WHEN I DIDN’T?” or something like it, Jesus asked Saul in the Scorsese movie, The Last Temptation Of Jesus Christ. Saul looked at Jesus and flinging his arm towards the crowd, “TELL THEM,” he challenged and walked away, his laughter piercing the ear of a dumbfounded Jesus.
Dear Tes Pring above,
What a lovely Passage of the Gates!! The Soul (Everyone’s) descending downwards into Material Matter. Platonic Philosophy explains these gates. Pre-your own BIRTH
Amenti is this Good Ol’ Earth.
“”…hurl ye them down into your pits because of that deadly evil which they have done against the Great One””
The Pits are our Human Bodies. “Caves/Prisons/Tombs/ etc etc.”
Now I might ask, what did all of our Souls do wrong in our Previous Life against The Great One? That forced our Spirits of Light to incarnate into all our (Self) current bodies? “Know Your SELF”
Their is one current theme running on all fours through all the Sun-God Philosophies–Accending and Decending (Another Hermetic Polarity I might add!!). Just like the Symbolic Orb of the day Sun. The Sun (Typed as Symbol) in the evening, watch it plunge into dark matter (earth/sea/west/flesh). Only to be reborn on the Mount of the Morning (Air/Spirit/east). This Symboled or Typed or Glyphed your (everyone’s) Soul Spirit into and out of (another polarity!) entanglement with Matter. I am stunned how well all our ancestors thousands of years ago understood sacred science. It actually blows my mind!
The Acceptable Year (which one?) of Our Lord. The Zodiac Processional or Solar Year? It matters not. The Same Symbol above applies to the Symbolic Festivals scattered throughout the Year. X-mas the darkest night (YOUR Soul/Spirit incarnation or descending into matter (Pit/Cave/Stable/Prison) and so on.
All I know? Is we all better start paying very close attention to the Symbols provided to all our view in our Objective Natural World. Because they refract anagolies and mirror symbols into your/our Subjective invisable World. We were all (our Souls) sent here to learn something, that we all failed to learn in our previous lives!
The Zodiac is a Symbolic gift from our God Like Ancestors. It belongs to ALL HUMANITY. It IS HUMANITY!! In and out of incarnation. Re-incarnation. Matter is not motionless it is forever! There is no such thing as Death. The Zodiac as Symbol is Y/OUR very own Soul into and out of Incarnation! If you learn how to read the Ancient Symbols and Myths. For my LOVE of all Humanity!
Dear Nosca Khalid above,
“PAUL: THE LIE THAT FOREVER CHANGED THE WORLD””
The only lie dear sir, is Your (and Millions of Others) entanglement with the Literal Sense of all World Scriptures. Look at your posting, Your forcing the Text to read as Exoteric Literal History. You have to look ‘Under and Through the Text’. For its inner Spiritual Symbolic and Cosmic Meaning. Astrotheology=Ancient “Cosmogony” why do we keep inventing new names? I’m not clear…
“”HOW FOR INSTANCE COULD THERE BE A MORNING AND AN EVENING AFTER EACH OF THE FIRST 3 DAYS OF CREATION IF THE SUN AND THE MOON WERE CREATED ON THE 4TH DAY, TWO HEAVENLY BODIES UPON WHICH OUR CONCEPTION OF TIME IS BASED.””
Sir, You answered your own question within your own question!! Do you see everyone, how the literal sense snares everyone!
Answer? Then it is not based upon “YOUR” conception of Time! It has a hidden Esoteric Symbolic Meaning within the Literal Glypth and or Typology. Perhaps an, Ideograph for something else?
Nature is built on 6’s and 7’s. One Cube has six faces. And into one everything shall go–if you read the “Encrypted” Mythical Allegories of Plato. Yes–that would be PAGAN materials!!!!!
Look for hidden patterns within the entire text, would be a great start for you. Read it like Mythical Robin Hood. Which has a lovely hidden meaning…I’ll give you a teaching tip.
When ever you read a Myth or Allegory or Fable, that when your reading it sounds almost impossible to believe literally, then right there, you must STOP and sharpen and re-focus your intellect (Third Eye), and look for a hidden sense. If it sounds like Mythology and quacks like Mythology–its Mythology–With its hidden sense—HIDDEN of course…
Hope this helps…
the myth of jesus
😡
Jesus is clearly a composite, not a single historical person. That is, he was a blend of several real people or their fictional afterlives, combined with an assortment of mostly pagan mythology.
Paul who was clearly the first Christian writer only saw Jesus in a vision, and never claimed to have met a real Jesus. About half of Paul’s writing may have been by a single author, the rest are in a variety of different writing styles. All the writings where the authors claim to have actually met Jesus are pseudo biographical (ghost written and attributed to a character in the legend).
The legend of Jesus follows the planting personification mythology … The seed is sacrificed, buried in virgin mother earth, and is resurrected/reincarnated/reborn as the parent plant to provide the bread and beer of life, harvest after harvest, forever and ever, *(Updated to the bread and wine of life in Greek / Roman times as a real god would be upscale and have wine instead of beer).
Jesus 12 disciples have a zodiac connection (which is why there is no accurate list of who they actually were, and explains why none of the original twelve ever actually wrote about Jesus).
Bottom line, Jesus is a myth.
Judeo Freemasonry
Christian bashing through the use of Egyptian mythology and symbolism is the forte of the Masonic/Illuminati cabal. This is just more of the same. Hardly an unbiased or reliable source of credible information.
Your remarks are purely irrelevant, as neither this post nor I have anything to do with the “Masonic/Illuminati” cabal. It’s clear you didn’t – or couldn’t – even read my analysis.
But thanks for the libel revealing little more than your own desperation at forcing people to remain enthralled to bogus Jewish fairytales.
John Taylor – above wrote
“”The legend of Jesus follows the planting personification mythology … The seed is sacrificed, buried in virgin mother earth, and is resurrected/reincarnated/reborn as the parent plant to provide the bread and beer of life, harvest after harvest, forever and ever,””
Now this is so lovely John! Well Done Sir! Its the best I’ve seen here for some time. It just requires a little Philisophical Pagan Polish!
What you wrote, is an analogy taken from Nature, which Typed the Soul’s (Yours/Everyone’s) into and out of Incarnation. I’ll rewrite your quote, using some of your words…
The Ancient Sun-God Philosophies Symbolize (in one sense) the planting personification mythology. The seed (your soul) is sacrificed (goes to its death, descending), buried in virgin mother (matter) earth, and is resurrected/reincarnated/reborn (ascending) as the parent plant to provide the bread and beer of life, harvest after harvest, forever and ever.
What is lovely about this analogy, is watch what happens when you plant a tiny seed in your home flower pot. The seed goes to its death, and watch carefully the little sprout. What Laws of Nature are at work here? The little sprout ‘Bifurcates’ or splits into two halfs, whilst the ‘Centre’ stock reaches toward the magnetic Sun. Another Trinity! And the religious ‘Jack and the Bean Stock’ Fable, becomes a fable no more! What if Jack was your Soul? In and out of Incarnation?
The Mythical Jesus, crucified between two theives analogy. To understand religious Myths. One only requires a firm grasp on the Polarities of Nature. If I told you, that the God of this World–is Satan himself! You’d Say, “Are you Crazy!” But then, I’d know, you do not yet understand the Laws of Nature…Or the Sacred Myth!
The Bible is 12 layers deep in Symbolism. One on top of the other…
THE HAS COME
GOD’S GIVES THE COVENANT TO US WHICH IS ” 7 LAWS”….
PREPARE OF THE 2ND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST….
http://www.campbranchcogop.org/armorofgod.htm
I wanted to point out …
A literal translation of 1 Corihtians 10:3-4 does not use the word “supernatural” but “spiritual”. In My Mind, the two concepts are different.
I pray for you
I sincerely pray for all of you
Thank you. And I pray to Isis, Hercules and Shiva for you.