As some know, this is my on-going personal project, and here's my latest publication of my take on the REAL Jesus story and why he publicly exclaimed "Destroy This Temple..." and to rebuilt it via "his [or the] body." I also explore why St. Stephen said in Acts that "the Most High does not live in houses made by men."
Jesus' real story, or any famous person's story for that matter, is always hard to historically and accurately ascertain in retrospect.
The controversy over Jesus' story and its relation to the Gnostics began in 325AD at the Council of Nicea, an infamous date in human history when the gnostics, who were likely the philosophical foundation of the original Christians, were banned, persecuted, and murdered by the ancestors of today's Church: the martyr-obsessed orthodox christians (academic term), not to be mistaken with modern Eastern Orthodox Church, began their subversion of Jesus' story in earnest at this infamous Council following the death of Alexander the Great and the split of the Roman empire.
So, the Roman empire split in half over the issue of the crucifixion so it's a valid topic indeed. And it's a pretty relevant topic to modern history as well: we still live with the same centralized authority today, with the same tyrannous "christian" groups who want to persecute anyone who isn't in their cult. In other words, it was they who Jesus and St. Stephen railed against, and died fighting against as rebel leaders.
Education is the way out of tyranny; that was Jesus' message and his criticism at the city center, railing against the temple people and proclaiming "Destroy this temple," was an ingenious means of educating the masses to his message: as he drove the false prophets out of the temple where doves for menstruation were sold and where money exchanges operated, he spoke with actions to speak to his desire for liberty from religious-induced tyranny.
He certainly wasn't calling for a world-wide calaphate, for lack of better word, but rather for a temple of the body. St. Stephen similarly proclaiming "the Most High does not live in houses made by men," more on that below, only a few decades later, shows that this message was pervasive among the early christians.
So, I believe that Stephen and Jesus were teaching that the people of the world must embrace education to defeat the totalitarian ideology of these false "christian" groups and "muslim" groups or any such organized "religion" groups who utilize hate, fear, and guilt to achieve their wicked ends. Constitutional Freedom of Religion does not allow for murder and and genocide as per its history but rather for peaceful religious practice: Constitutional democracy's birth was and is the greatest tribute to Jesus and Stephen, in my opinion, since those great men walked the earth. It took two millenia for it to spread worldwide; let's not let multinational corporatists looking to maximize profits destroy this great occurance per Cheney/ Bush and their shill politicians in both political parties.
The editors of the the real Jesus story, the Orthodox of early christian infamy, perverted Jesus' teachings and tricked followers the more zealous early christians into their money-hungry group, all under the guise of centralized "churches" and "temples" (and comparably, in Islam, "mosques.") Their centralization was a dagger into the heart and soul of Jesus' message.
Knowledge, or "gnosis," is and was the only force able to defeat fascism masked as religion; Jesus and Stephen knew this and that's why Jesus attacked the money-changers at the Temple and denounced the temple personnel in his most famous act seen and explained right in the Bible and why Stephen shrewdly quoted Isaiah (Isaiah 66.1-2) to back up Jesus' teachings against centralized religion and its inherent corruption:
49" 'Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me? says the
Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?'
(Of course the ancient wingers killed him for exposing him using Old Testament text to back up his position...)
I believe Jesus was publicly espousing "gnosis" or knowledge with his city-center display of civil disobedience, with his ancient "orange revolution." He was a rebel leader denouncing corrupt pharoah-like officials disguised as religious folk.
The Constitution's First Amendment, which protects our freedom of religious expression is magnificent and reflects Jesus' vision of peace and fairness and was a dagger in the heart of the forces of tyranny and oppression in the world. The 1st Amendment serves as the foundation of our democracy, which apparently religious fundementalists hate per their post-9/11 attacks on Jeffersonian democracy. Let's reread what democracy is:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
The First Amendment means that you have freedom to practice your religion free from persecution. Period. God gave us that right. It says so right in Genesis 1:29 as well and discredits modern fascism's main foothold, the Holy Drug Inquisition:
God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
The Constitution needs another amendment to re-affirm the 4th amendment, a modern-day update if you will.
Now, as to the freedoms under assault, the radical Christians and the radical Muslims, to take the top two most effective fascist religious groups in the world, are almost identical in their virulence and tactics as they use religion to dominate in politics and war and to attack freedom in the world for profits. They obsess around the concept of the "end times" because fear is their main tool for brainwashing inductees. They have literally boogey-manned themselves into being basket cases however and have destroyed another generation of bright young minds in rural America with their dumbed-down, anti-education, cult-like mentality.
In other words, they appear as evil in the world, all the while they fancy themselves to be modern pharoahs or prophets or whatnot themselves. Arrogance at its finest.
They attempt to dumb down the world population so that they can quite simply get at the public's money: THAT is their primary objective after which they can impose themselves on the populace using fear and guilt for all other money-related issues. Powerful, evil people have corrupted Jesus' anti-tyranny teachings and so liberals should not be against Jesus, a champion of liberalism and liberty, but against those who have perverted his life and teachings.
Only gnosis or knowledge can defeat these forces of evil that are insulated from criticism within "churches" and "mosques" and "temples," using the tried and true techniques of fear, superstition, guilt, and violence.
Again, Jesus railed against these forces in his most famous act when he declared "Destroy this temple..." More on that but first, let me introduce St. Stephen:
St. Stephen, lauded in the famous Grateful Dead song, is known as the first Christian deacon and was, like Jesus, an outspoken rebel leader.
Here my take on Stephen's story:
Stephen was stoned to death by rabid church-for-money freaks, by a Paul-inspired (then Saul) mob.
Stephen's story sums up my message here today, my little manifesto against organized religion and Stephen's story is right in the Bible! Let the words spread the knowledge, the gnosis, and remember that Moses REALLY DIDN'T like idols per 1st Commandment (and churches and crosses and statues qualify as idols as well).
Context: Stephen is surrounded by a mob who claim that...
11Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
14For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.(Acts, vi, 12 14)
To which Stephen replied:
44 "Our forefathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the desert. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 Having received the tabernacle, our fathers under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. 47 But it was Solomon who built the house for him.
48 "However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet (Isaiah) says:
49" 'Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me? says the
Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?'
51 "You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him-- 53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it."
54 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."
57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. (Acts, vi, 44-58).
Paul (Saul) later started the adulterated version of Christianity. I bet your bible study person didn't highlight those verses in the Bible...
Jesus had something to say to people like Saul. He told them to "Destroy this temple" and to stop making mega-money with their mega-churches while abusing God's good name in the process:
13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade." 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for thy house will consume me." 18 The Jews then said to him, "What sign have you to show us for doing this?" 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." 20 The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" 21 But he spoke of the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs which he did; 24 but Jesus did not trust himself to them, 25 because he knew all men and needed no one to
bear witness of man; for he himself knew what was in man. -- John 2:13-25
His "body" doesn't mean start up a mega-church and make money on Jesus; the mega-church is what he was calling an abomination for what they do to the poor and the meek of the world, and he was right.
As to the Gnostics, I don't know about the modern Gnostics with the "magic" component and all, and so I can't comment on its validity, but I know from my studies on the ancient Gnostics that they put a lot of emphasis on women, per the Gospel of Philip , and the "Bridal Chamber," and I know that the Gnostics of old deserve MUCH more critical study and historical attention in general.
Here's a sample of the Gospel of Thomas, which I have heard had objectionable portions added later, but which has many elements of gnostic teachings including discussion of women and the holy "bridal chamber" and most of all, discussion of Christhood which is attainable by all and not an exclusive concept just for Jesus, kind of like the Buddhist concept of nirvana, see Gospel of Philip for more as well:
Christhood, per Gospel of Thomas:
108. Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him."
Jesus' promise of eternal life through knowledge or gnosis:
1 "And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation of these sayings will not taste death."
Always remember that these teachings were outlawed by the "church" in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea and the Gnostics were put to death along with any other religious sect within their vicious reach.
In other words, the real history of Christianity has yet to be understood by the people of the world: the "christian church," born in 325 AD, was born out of mass violence while all the while forsaking Jesus' real teachings with its edited, adulterated version of his rebellious teachings and rants against organized religion.
One day, academics will not be able to ignore the true story of Jesus and when that true story gets out, the political landscape will be forever changed... for the better:
Humankind just needs to get over the hump... the interactive online
4th century Bible will arrive soon and will help with that hump in a couple of years.