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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: YAHSHUA OR PAUL? ESSENE CHRISTIANITY VERSUS PAULIANITY AN EXPOSE´ AND CALL TO ACTION by Rev. Brother Nazariah, D.D. In previous articles published in The Essene Path, I have briefly touched on the topic of how Paul, the self-proclaimed Apostle, violently opposed the original vegetarian Essene Christianity of Jesus, first by killing and imprisoning its leaders, then by infiltrating the movement and leading a schism. The schism led by Paul -- a meat-eating version of Christianity -- replaced the teachings of Jesus with the teachings of Paul. As briefly described in previous articles, "Paulianity" evolved into the Roman Catholic Church and gave birth to all of what is considered mainstream Christianity today, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant. Whereas I have briefly touched on this topic in previous articles, it is the purpose of this article to deal with it in great depth. I will begin by setting the stage; I will describe early Christianity as it existed prior to the advent of Paul. What were the main tenets of this pre-Pauline, Essene Christianity? What was the early Christian doctrine of salvation? Having set the stage, I will describe in detail the schism led by Paul which evolved into modern Christianity. I will conclude this expose´ with a call to action: A CALL TO REJECT PAULIANITY AND RETURN TO ESSENE NAZARENE CHRISTIANITY. The choice is simple, yet profound; and every Christian must make it: YAHSHUA (Jesus) OR PAUL? First, some necessary background information must be given. There was an ancient Jewish religion which was very mystical, high and noble. It was a very evolved form of religion, rooted in respect and care for all of creation. This ancient Jewish religion was both very esoteric -- as evidenced by its Kaballah mysticism -- and yet very practical, as evidenced by its emphasis on daily lifestyle disciplines, ecology and communal economics. It was also VERY VEGETARIAN: not only was animal sacrifice forbidden, but so was the eating of animal flesh absolutely condemned. War and slavery had no part in this nonviolent religion. Women were the equals to men; women were entitled -- in fact, encouraged-- to participate in the Priesthood. This Priesthood -- called "The Priesthood of Melki Zadek" -- was governed by God via good angels and the divinely inspired BOOK OF THE ETERNAL COVENANT. Their original founder was Enoch; later, Moses led a major remanifestation of their movement. THIS ENLIGHTENED ANCIENT JEWISH RELIGION WAS KNOWN AS "ESSENE NAZARENE JUDAISM". But Essene Nazarene Judaism was not the only form of Judaism. A violent, flesh-eating form of Judaism based on bloody animal sacrifice became the dominant religion in Israel. The nonviolent, vegetarian Essenes were persecuted by the animal sacrifice cult. Both forms of Judaism expected a Messiah: the sacrificial cult expected the Messiah to be a warrior king; the Essene Nazarenes expected a Messiah of Peace, a spiritual King. And so it was that the Messiah of Peace, the spiritual King of Israel, came to earth through the Essenes; for it was the Essene scriptures and prophecies that proved true. And so it was that the Essene Nazarene Jews, practitioners of the authentic Judaism established by God through Enoch and Moses, BECAME THE VERY FIRST CHRISTIANS! The "first Christians" were not called "Christians"! That term was not used until years later. They were called "Essene Nazarene Ebionites". For short, they were usually referred to simply as "Nazarenes" or "Ebionites". Let us begin our description of early, pre-Pauline Christianity with a look at the meaning of the terms "Nazarene" and "Ebionite". The term "Nazarene" refers to a member of the Essene movement associated with Mount Carmel in Northern Israel. The Essenes considered Mount Carmel to be so holy that none of the natural vegetation growing there could be disturbed: no trees cut, no bushes cleared away, no permanent dwellings built. Some of their priests lived on Mount Carmel in tents (similar to yurts) but no permanent structures were permitted. Even their Temple atop Carmel was a type of large tent, a beautiful yurt with a bloodless altar. Only a small contingent of their priests actually lived atop Mount Carmel, the majority of their membership lived in an Essene cooperative village a couple miles from the southwestern edge of the base of the mountain. That Essene village was called "Nazareth". Those who lived there were called "Nazarenes", as were all members of the Essene sect associated with Mount Carmel. Thus, the fact that Jesus was referred to as "the Nazarene" and his first followers were called "the sect of the Nazarenes" demonstrates the link between early Christianity and the Essene Nazarenes of Mount Carmel. The other term that the first Christians were called was "Ebionite". The word "Ebionite" comes from the Hebrew word "Ebon" which literally means "poor" but implies "THOSE WHO HAVE VOLUNTARILY RENOUNCED WORLDLY MATERIALISM TO ENTER THE ESSENE LIFESTYLE OF SIMPLE LIVING AND RADICAL SHARING IN COMMUNITY." Simply put, an "Ebionite" is an "Essene renunciate", an Essene who has given up materialism to serve God within the context of the communal lifestyle in which all is shared. While all fully initiated Essene Nazarene Ebionites lived in, or were sent out on missions by, the network of Essene Christian communes, there was a large outer-circle of members not yet fully initiated who still lived in private homes. These outer-circle devotees were called "Hearers"; until ready to divest themselves of private wealth and join the communal economy, they studied the teachings and supported the communes by tithing. In the beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared "Blessed are the Ebon ("Poor"), for they shall inherit the Earth." He was not pronouncing a general blessing on all poor people; neither was he praising poverty. Rather, he was making specific reference to his sect, the Essene "Ebon" or "Ebionites" gathered around him atop the Mount. The terms "Nazarene" and "Ebionite" are central to a correct understanding of early, pre-Pauline Christianity. Why? Because certain specific beliefs and practices can be identified with those terms. We know from many sources that both terms -- Nazarene and Ebionite -- are associated with: vegetarianism, reincarnation, God as both Father and Mother, communalism, pacifism, an absolute prohibition against slavery, absolute sobriety (no intoxicating drinks or drugs), equality of men and women, holistic health and Essene Yoga. THOSE ARE THE BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF THE VERY FIRST CHRISTIANS, the beliefs and practices of the ESSENE NAZARENE EBIONITES. And what was the doctrine of salvation of these early, pre-Pauline Christians? They believed that SALVATION IS DEPENDENT UPON FOLLOWING THE SAVING TEACHINGS OF YAHSHUA (Jesus). In a profound contrast with the theology of Paul -- which became orthodox Christianity ("Paulianity") -- the literature of the Essene Nazarene Ebionites NEVER TAUGHT SALVATION VIA BELIEF IN THE SACRIFICIAL DEATH OF JESUS ON THE CROSS. The Pauline doctrine which asserts that you can only be saved by believing that Jesus died for your sins, is called ATONEMENT. The Essene Nazarene Ebionites had a very different doctrine of Atonement; it was AT-ONE-MENT. They believed that to be AT-ONE with God (the goal of religion) one must follow THE SAVING TEACHINGS OF YAHSHUA, not simply believe in his sacrificial death. The Essene Nazarene Ebionites based their doctrine of salvation on the actual instructions they personally received from Yahshua before his crucifixion. Unlike Paul, who NEVER EVEN MET JESUS, the leaders of the Essene Nazarene Ebionites were PERSONALLY TRAINED AND INITIATED BY THEIR SPIRITUAL MASTER, YAHSHUA. In The Essene New Testament, Jesus tells his disciples that blood sacrifice cannot bring salvation: So, Jesus made quite clear that no blood sacrifice -- not even his own -- can provide salvation for your sins; rather, you must quit sinning (repent) and follow his SAVING TEACHINGS. And that was the doctrine of salvation of the Essene Nazarene Ebionites. It should be noted that while the Essene Nazarene Christians did not believe in the remission of sins via Jesus' sacrificial death, THEY DID BELIEVE JESUS PERFORMED A POWERFUL WORK ON THE CROSS. Fallen angels who had become disembodied demons were tampering with the subtle, etheric atmospheres of Planet Earth; especially: 1) the energy vortex involved with the process of exiting the body at death; 2) the purgatorial realm of past life review between incarnations; and, 3) the energy vortex involved with the process of taking new birth. For Jesus to purify and reorganize those subtle, etheric atmospheres of our planet, IT WAS NECESSARY FOR HIM TO DIE AS A HUMAN BEING AND ENTER THOSE SUBTLE REGIONS THROUGH THE ENERGY VORTEX WHICH WAS INFESTED WITH PARASITIC DEMONS. He did so, freeing many souls who were being held captive in the subtle planes (being sucked of life-force by vampire-like disembodied entities) and purified the entire between-lives region and energy vortexes. This took place during the three days after his crucifixion and prior to his reappearance to the disciples at the tomb. Thus, the Essene Christians believed that salvation was dependent on following the savings teachings of Jesus -- not belief in his sacrificial death -- BUT DID BELIEVE HE PERFORMED A MIGHTY WORK BY DYING AS A MAN AND PURIFYING THE BETWEEN-LIVES REGION. But no matter how vital and necessary that deed was, if we simply believe in it and neglect to follow his teachings, we will not experience AT-ONE-MENT with God. AT-ONE-MENT WITH GOD IS ACHIEVED VIA HARMONY WITH THE LAWS OF GOD -- the laws of the universe -- AND THOSE LAWS (and how to be in harmony with them) ARE THE SUBJECT OF THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS. Having set the stage, I will begin now to describe how Paul, the self-proclaimed Apostle, violently opposed the original vegetarian Essene Christianity of Jesus, first by killing and imprisoning its leaders, then by infiltrating the movement and leading a schism. That schism, as I shall describe, evolved into mainstream, meat-eating Christianity. About two decades after the crucifixion of Jesus, we meet Paul. Essene Nazarene Christianity was still true to the teachings of Jesus, being led by James, the brother of Jesus. Paul, an agent of the Jewish puppet-government installed by imperial Rome, then made his first appearance, leading a bloody assault on the Essene Christians in the Temple at Jerusalem. That vicious attack in which many Essene-Christians were murdered by Paul and his henchmen -- an historical fact you won't find in your "Pauline" Christian Bible -- is described by the Apostle Peter in an ancient Essene Christian manuscript titled, THE CLEMENTINE HOMILIES AND RECOGNITIONS; we read: "To him our James began to show, by abundant proof that Jesus is the Christ, and that in Him are fulfilled all the prophecies which related to His humble advent. For, James showed that two advents of Him are foretold: one in humiliation, which He has now accomplished; the other in glory, which is yet to be accomplished.... "And when James had plainly taught the people concerning these things, he added this also, that unless a man be baptized in water, in the name of the threefold blessedness, as the True Prophet taught, he can neither receive remission of sins nor enter the kingdom of heaven: and he declared that this is the prescription of the unbegotten God.... And when James had spoken some more things about baptism, through seven successive days he persuaded all the people and even the high priest that they should hasten straightaway to receive baptism.... "And when matters were at that point that they would all come and be baptized, Paul and his men entered the temple: and Paul cried out: 'Oh men of Israel, why are you so easily influenced by these miserable men?' He began to excite the people and raise a tumult... and drive all into confusion with shouting, and to undo what had been done by James. Paul rebuked the priests for having listened to James, and, like a madman, began to excite the priests and people to murder James and the brethren, saying 'Do not hesitate; grab them and pull them to pieces.' Paul then, seizing a strong brand from the altar, set the example of smiting. Then others also, seeing him, joined in the beating. Much blood was shed. Although James and the brethren were more numerous and more powerful they rather suffered themselves to be killed by an inferior force, than to kill others. Paul attacked James and threw him headlong from the top of the steps; and supposing him to be dead left him." Fortunately, James, the Brother of Jesus and leader of the Essene Christians, was revived by Essene healers. He and the other survivors of Paul's attack left Jerusalem and went to an Essene commune to heal. Paul continued to persecute Essene Christians, going from city to city with secret police agents, arresting and killing many. Then, on the road to Damascus, Paul (this is the point where he changed his name from Saul to Paul) claimed to have a vision of Christ, and supposedly converted to Essene Christianity. By claiming conversion, Paul was entitled to receive initiation into the Essene mystery school (he entered their three year ministerial training program in Damascus) and to learn the various secrets of the group, including their hidden camps and underground church locations. At first, the brethren considered his conversion to be authentic. Later they realized it was no real conversion: IT WAS AN INFILTRATION! Once Paul had infiltrated the group and received ordination, he began to change the teachings of Jesus, especially in regard to vegetarianism. (We will examine the conflict between Paul and the old Apostles on vegetarianism in another section of this article.) Certainly, Paul is entitled to his own opinion on vegetarianism. But a study of all the source material makes clear that Paul did more than simply state his own opinion: he DELIBERATELY and SYSTEMATICALLY replaced the original teachings of Jesus and the "old apostles" with his own very different teachings, not only on vegetarianism but also women's rights, slavery and more. In The Story of Christian Origins, Martin Larson writes: In one of the best books on early Christianity, Those Incredible Christians, Dr. Hugh Schonfield reports: "It was not only the teaching and activities of Paul which made him obnoxious to the Christian leaders: but their awareness that he set his revelations above their authority and claimed an intimacy with the mind of Jesus, greater than that of those who had companied with him on earth and had been chosen by him.... It was an abomination, especially as his ideas were so contrary to what they knew of Jesus, that he should pose as the embodiment of the Messiah 's will.... Paul was seen as the demon-driven enemy of the Messiah.... For the legitimate Church, Paul was a dangerous and disruptive influence, bent on enlisting a large following among the Gentiles in order to provide himself with a numerical superiority with the support of which he could set at defiance the Elders at Jerusalem. Paul had been the enemy from the beginning, and because he failed in his former open hostility he had craftily insinuated himself into the fold to destroy it from within." In the two excerpts given directly above -- the excerpt from Larson's book and the excerpt from Schonfeld's book -- six important assertions are made in regard to Paul: I will now address each of the above six assertions, providing evidence to support them. I will deal with the significance of the first assertion -- that Paul taught it was okay to eat meat offered to idols -- when I address number five because the two are intimately linked. Thus, I begin with assertion number two. We saw above that Martin Larson, in his book The Story of Christian Origins, asserted that whereas Jesus honored women, Paul did not. Larson asserts that Paul taught the inferiority of women, commanding women to submit to men. We need not look far for evidence; simply grab the nearest bible and read Paul's own words; in First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Paul declares: Similarly, Paul declares in Chapter 5 of Ephesians: If you think the above words of Paul are not only egotistical -- "Be imitators of me" -- but also brand him as a male chauvinist, hold onto your hats (especially you women in church!); IT GETS WORSE! In Chapter 14 of First Corinthians, Paul writes: In the above excerpts from the Pauline New Testament -- the New Testament used by every Christian Church in the world today EXCEPT ESSENE CHURCH OF CHRIST (we use The Essene New Testament which has NO WORDS OF PAUL), Paul reveals himself to be biased towards women -- indeed, he seems to hate them -- and to be a megalomaniac. ("Megalomania" is a disease of the mind marked by unwarranted feelings of personal superiority, omnipotence and grandeur.) Probably, most of the older women reading this article remember having to wear hats or veils on their heads at church when they were little girls. That Pauline doctrine was enforced in nearly all Christian churches in America up until the women's liberation movement of the 1960's. That Pauline doctrine is still enforced in nearly every Christian church outside of America. Even today in America, especially in the Southern States, women still must wear head coverings in many of the more conservative denominations. Obviously, the Catholic prohibition against women being priests is rooted in this Pauline bias against women. JESUS NEVER SPOKE NEGATIVELY ABOUT WOMEN THE WAY PAUL DID. At spiritual gatherings of his disciples, Mary Magdalene constantly peppered Jesus with spiritual questions, as did another woman named Mary and a woman named Martha. Jesus encouraged them to speak. Jesus' positive viewpoint in regard to women was a natural outgrowth of his understanding of God as both Father and Mother; we read in The Essene New Testament: "Verily, God created mankind in the Divine image male and female, and all nature is in the image of God.... In the beginning, God willed and there came forth the First Beloved Son and the First Beloved Daughter, united as Love and Wisdom, created in the Image and Likeness of the Father-Mother, and of these proceed all the generations of the spirits of God, the Sons and Daughters of the eternal.... "Therefore shall the name of the Father and Mother be equally hallowed, for they are the great powers of God...." Wow! what a vastly different vibratory frequency are the words of Jesus in regard to the feminine energy than Paul's! While Jesus praises the feminine energy as being Divine and calls women "the daughters of God", Paul tells women to cover their heads as a sign of submission to men -- or to have their heads shaved bald as punishment -- and forbids them to speak at church! Hey Ladies, take your pick: Essene Christianity or Paulianity? Next we will examine Schonfield's assertion that Paul permitted Christians to own other Christians in contrast to the absolute prohibition against slavery by the Essenes. Once again, we need look only so far as the nearest Pauline Bible -- the Bible on your bookshelf -- for evidence to support Schonfield; for, once again, Paul's own words condemn him. In chapter 6 of Ephesians, Paul instructs Christian slaves to obey their Christian slave masters as though the slave master were Jesus Christ: Likewise, in chapter 3 of Colossians, Paul orders Christian slaves in another congregation to obey their Christian slave masters: In 1st Timothy chapter 6, Paul instructs his ministerial student, Timothy, in the Pauline doctrine on slavery, and then displays his egotistical megalomania by asserting that anyone who disagrees with him knows nothing: Yes, the above words upholding slavery, like the previous words downgrading women, are printed on the pages of the supposedly "holy" Bible, the book which Pauline Christians call "the Word of God". Fortunately, there does exist a truly "holy" Bible; and, fortunately, that Bible forbids slavery and upholds the dignity of women. That truly holy Bible is The Essene New Testament; and it is indeed worthy of the term "THE WORD OF GOD." Unfortunately, the Pauline fundamentalists don't read it! Thus, the above excerpts from the Pauline bible upholding slavery were used by governmental and religious "authorities" to defend the institution of slavery for nearly 1,900 years. In fact, when Abraham Lincoln first tried to put an end to slavery in America many Christian Churches opposed him AND USED THE ABOVE WORDS OF PAUL TO DEFEND SLAVERY IN AMERICA. The Southern Baptist denomination was formed to defend the practice of slavery in America; their theological defense of slavery was based on the words of Paul. AND EVEN THE KU KLUX KLAN BASED THEIR EARLY PRO SLAVERY PROPAGANDA ON THE ABOVE WORDS OF PAUL. (The Klan was formed three years after the end of the Civil War but hoped to overturn the freedom won by blacks and return to slavery.) How many whipped black backs, stretched black necks (lynchings), cross burnings, (yes the Christian cross burning in front of a black person's home is a symbol of the Pauline Christian Klan) and burnt black churches are directly attributable to the above words of Paul? Larson was certainly correct in his assertion that THE ESSENES ABSOLUTELY FOREBADE THE PRACTICE OF SLAVERY. In fact, as Upton Clairy Ewing points out in his book The Prophet of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Essenes were the very first people in history to condemn slavery: Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of the Essenes, wrote: Jesus, the Essene Messiah and founder of the religion Paul claimed to represent, declared: The fact that Paul betrayed the anti-slavery doctrine of Jesus and the Essene Christians is made clear by Ewing; we read in The Prophet of The Dead Sea Scrolls: "When Jesus said: 'whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even to them', he, in effect, challenged the slave owner to extend freedom to others if he would himself be free.... "The Nazarenes, also called Ebionites, the sect who represented the first Christian congregation at Jerusalem under James, the Lord's brother, abided by the strict ascetic rules of their Essene brethren. They held it to be contrary to the plan of God for anyone to enslave another.... "However, at this point we find a parting of the ways: Palestinian Christianity was to be taken over and changed by the evangelist who labored amongst the Gentiles [Paul]. Materialism succeeded asceticism and human freedom became the first great ethic of Jesus Christ to bow to the carnal customs of the heathen. Paul at this time was, no doubt, under great stress and pain in both body and spirit, for in assuming the Roman custom of slavery, he was in consequence severely criticized and shunned by the old apostles. For this... he was called an 'Apostate'." Please notice above that the Essene Christian's prohibition against slavery was only the first "great ethic of Jesus Christ" to be betrayed by Paul. Paul systematically altered many of the teachings of Jesus, replacing them with his own false gospel. Which brings us face-to-face with the fourth assertion made by Larson and Schonfeld: PAUL, ALTHOUGH HE NEVER MET JESUS, IGNORED THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE APOSTLES WHO HAD BEEN PERSONALLY TRAINED BY JESUS, REPLACING THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS AND THE APOSTLES WITH HIS OWN VERY DIFFERENT TEACHINGS. That is a strong accusation to make. Do other scholars agree? Let's see. In the excellent book Christ or Paul?, the Rev. V.A. Holmes-Gore wrote: The great theologian Soren Kierkegaard, writing in The Journals, echoes the above sentiment: The brilliant theologian Ernest Renan, in his book Saint Paul, wrote: In the above excerpt a reference is made to the "epistles of Paul". The word "epistle" means "letter". The Letters of Paul became a part of the New Testament; in fact, THERE ARE FAR MORE WORDS OF PAUL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THAN THERE ARE WORDS OF JESUS! And as we are seeing from our study, the words of Paul are not at all in harmony with the words of Jesus! To continue to drive home that point, I am going to intentionally overwhelm you with an avalanche of quotations from great thinkers! The next is from the great American philosopher, Will Durant; in his Caesar and Christ, he wrote: Robert Frost, winner of the Pulitzer prize for poetry in 1924,1931,1937 and 1943, in his "A Masque of Mercy", wrote: James Baldwin, the most noted black American author of this century, in his book The Fire Next Time, declared: Martin Buber, the most respected Jewish philosopher of this century, wrote in Two Types of Faith: The famous mystic, poet and author, Kahil Gibran, declared in Jesus the Son of Man: Above, the great Gibran, accurately reported something that I noticed when I first read the epistles of Paul as a youngster: PAUL DOES NOT QUOTE FROM THE WORDS OF JESUS! (Even before the gospels were written, all initiated Christians were instructed in the sayings of Jesus.) When you read the epistles of Paul, the Father of mainstream Christianity, all you get is Paul's own ideas; he never quotes the wise sayings of Jesus, he never reports on the life of Jesus. That point is also made by the famous theologian Helmut Koester, in his The Theological Aspects of Primitive Christian Heresy: Although I have amply demonstrated that Schonfeld and Larson's fourth assertion -- that Paul replaced the teachings of Jesus with his own very different teachings -- enjoys the support of many great thinkers, I am going to let the avalanche of supporting quotations continue to fall upon the reader a bit longer. But not without good reason. Because I am going to end this article with a call for Christians to abandon Paulianity and embrace Essene Christianity, I must provide OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR THE ASSERTION THAT PAUL BETRAYED THE TRUE TEACHINGS OF JESUS. And since many of the evangelical Christians currently under the yoke of Paul (instead of Jesus) are patriotic Americans, how about the following quotation from Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence; he wrote in his "Letter to William Short": "Paul was the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus." The renowned English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, in his Not Paul But Jesus, declared: The eminent theologian Ferdinand Christian Baur, in his Church History of the First Three Centuries, wrote: The great Mahatma Gandhi, the prophet of nonviolence who won freedom from England for India, in an essay titled "Discussion on Fellowship", wrote: Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist, wrote in his essay "A Psychological Approach to Dogma": As you can see, I am quoting from the intellectual cream of humanity. A few more and I will consider my point to be made. Let us continue with George Bernard Shaw, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925; in his Androcles and the Lion, we read: Let us follow that Nobel prize winner with another. Albert Schweitzer, winner of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, has been called "one of the greatest Christians of his time." He was a philosopher, physician, musician, clergyman, missionary, and theologian. In his The Quest for the Historical Jesus and his Mysticism of Paul he writes: William Wrede, in his excellent book Paul, informs us: Rudolf Bultman, one of the most respected theologians of this century, wrote in his Significance of the Historical Jesus for the Theology of Paul: Walter Bauer, another eminent theologian, wrote in his Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity: My point has been made. Schonfeld and Larson were quite correct in their assertion that PAUL REPLACED THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS WITH HIS OWN VERY DIFFERENT TEACHINGS. I have supported that assertion with powerful quotations from the intellectual cream of humanity. But before moving on to the next assertion in our list of six from Larson and Schonfeld, I choose to end this section on a humorous note (at least I find it humorous!). This rather humorous and certainly true quotation comes from another Nobel Prize winner; Ernest Hemingway: Do I hear a chuckle? Earlier in this article, I listed six assertions made by scholars Martin Larson and Hugh Schonfeld in regard to Paul, and then began to provide supporting evidence for each assertion. We began with assertion number two because, as I explained at the time, I will address assertion number one when I address assertion number five, as they are intimately linked. We have now reached that point; we will now address numbers two and five. We will deal with the two assertions as a unit. Assertion one is: PAUL TAUGHT THAT IT WAS OKAY FOR CHRISTIANS TO EAT MEAT, EVEN MEAT WHICH HAD BEEN SACRIFICED TO IDOLS. Assertion five: PAUL WAS, IN THE VIEW OF THE ESSENE CHRISTIANS, THE DEMON-DRIVEN ENEMY OF THE MESSIAH. The two assertions are linked in that the Essene Christians believed disembodied demons were responsible for the introduction and continuance of flesh eating and animal sacrifice on our planet THROUGH THE AGENCY OF HUMAN TOOLS. In other words, when Larson stated that the Essene Christians considered Paul to be the "demon driven" enemy of the Messiah, he intended the term "demon-driven" to be taken quite literally, not figuratively. Although some of the modern readers of this article may not believe in disembodied demons, the ancient Essene Christians -- including Jesus -- certainly did. (Jesus performed many exorcisms.) So that the modern reader may understand the ancient Essene Christian belief in demons -- including their belief that the demons introduced flesh eating and animal sacrifice to our planet via human tools like Paul -- I am going to provide extensive background information. Planet earth was, originally, a VEGETARIAN PARADISE. In the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, Genesis, the first humans are told by God: Obviously, something occurred which overturned God's plan for a vegetarian earth. But who -- or what -- would dare oppose the will of God? A host of fallen angels, demonic soldiers of Satan, came to vegetarian earth and instituted bloody sacrificial rites, flesh-eating and warfare. Several ancient manuscripts provide the above information. In The Book of Jubilees, fragments of which were found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, we read that fallen angels came to earth and: In The Book of Enoch, also found amongst the Dead Sea Scrolls, we read: These fallen angels mated with earth women and produced a race of half demon half human giants that terrorized the world. Finally, in an attempt to purify the land, Mother Earth and Father Sky responded: A flood was sent. The Book of Jubilees makes clear that the flood was a response to the demon-caused fall of mankind from vegetarianism to flesh eating. Martin Larson, in his excellent book The Essene Heritate (subtitled: "The Teacher of the Scrolls and the Gospel Christ."), writes: Another ancient manuscript, The Clementine Homilies and Recognitions, informs us that NONE OF THE BODIES of the demonic entities survived the flood; BUT THEIR EVIL SOULS DID SURVIVE! And they continued to cause trouble. Because the demonic entities no longer had physical bodies -- and were forbidden by God to incarnate as humans -- they had to get their bloody thrills vicariously. In The Clementine Homilies and Recognitions, the Apostle Peter explains: Peter goes on to give many more "gory" details. Through the flesh diet, the demons are able to decrease the rate of vibration of your aura (energy field around your body) to the point they can pierce it and enter your body. Then, they attach themselves to your mind and "make suggestions" to you, suggestions which you believe are from your own mind. Through the agency of your body -- including your sex organs -- these demons get their vicarious "thrills". Because they feed off of emotional turbulence and pain, they attempt to influence human behavior in such a way as to increase the likelihood of wars, violence and crime. Tens of thousands of these demons "hang out" at such places as slaughter houses, battle fields, brothels and bars, feeding on the negative energy. In order to "cultivate" their "garden of pain", these demons attempt to influence politics, business and religion. Shortly, we will consider how the sentence directly above -- especially the word "religion" -- relates to the false apostle Paul. But first I want to expose you to two more ancient accounts of the fall of humanity from original vegetarianism. The second of the following accounts is especially significant in that it links the fall from vegetarianism to the beginning of demonic, animal (and human) sacrifice in religion. The first of the two accounts is from the Oahspe: The fall from original vegetarianism into flesh eating and then human sacrifice is described in The Covenant of Love (a version of the New Testament revised with help from the Dead Sea Scrolls and published as part of Upton Ewing's, The Essene Christ). We read: "The Tree of Life was rent with pain. Its leaves hung limp in sorrow, its precious fruits fell to the ground in rot, and its stench deplored the sickening deed.... "Fear and foreboding grasped the heart of every living creature. The bold became vicious and the meek fled in terror, and the carcasses of dead beasts became the abomination of carnal appetites.... "Farther and farther man strayed from the truth of God. More and more did his power of choice become dominated by greeds and lusts. Weaker and weaker became his will to resist the cravings of the senses. Greater and greater grew the separation between the way of God and the way of man. And the True Light was obscured by the denseness of man 's own maleficent designs, and he no longer recognized the Divine Presence. Man thereafter began to invent his own god or gods.... [at which point the demons set themselves up to be worshipped as gods.] "They arranged a variety of lewd ceremonials and lurid dances to please the indulgence of a 'sensuous God'. They spilled the blood of virgins, of children, and of the gentle lamb and the faithful ox upon the temple altars to satisfy a lustful God." While the last paragraph of the above excerpt is shocking enough -- dealing with human sacrifice -- Peter, in the Clementine manuscript, makes an additional claim; he declares that the demons not only instituted animal and human sacrifice, but even CANNIBALISM: Although most historians do not believe in fallen angels -- or any other angels -- it is a mater of historical record that animal sacrifice, human sacrifice and cannibalism occurred -- and in some dark corners of the world still occur -- ON TEMPLE ALTERS IN THE NAME OF RELIGION. (There are many traces of that demonic religion in the sections of the Old Testament which were composed by the scribes of the cult of sacrifice; that cult of sacrifice was briefly described in the first pages of this article. The Essenes declared that much of the Old Testament came not from God, but from the fallen priesthood of the sacrificial cult. The Essenes described the Old Testament "Book of Leviticus" as "the work of a wicked angel". In Leviticus -- which you will find in the Pauline "Holy" Bible on your book shelf -- we read such things as: We also read in the "Holy" Bible, Book of Leviticus: Charles Vaclavik, in his book The Vegetarianism of Jesus Christ, accurately reports: Now, let us begin to examine how all the above relates to Paul. You will recall that Martin Larson asserted (assertion #1 on our list of six) that Paul taught IT WAS OKAY FOR CHRISTIANS TO EAT FLESH, EVEN FLESH FROM ANIMALS SACRIFICED TO IDOLS. First, let us see if Larson is correct; did Paul permit the eating of flesh, even flesh sacrificed to idols? As with Paul's upholding of slavery and his downgrading of women, we need not look far for evidence to confirm Larson's assertion in regard to Paul and meat; the nearest Pauline Bible will suffice. In his Epistle called "Romans", Paul wrote: Later, after Paul had led an outright schism against the "old Apostles" (i.e. against those who had actually known, walked with, and been trained by Jesus), he went so far as to call vegetarianism a doctrine "taught by demons"; in 1st Timothy (the same epistle in which he ordered Christian slaves to work extra hard for their Christian slave masters), Paul declared: Shortly we shall see that Paul even encouraged the eating of meat sacrificed to idols. But before doing so, we need to compare the above words of Paul with those of Jesus. After all, Paul has asserted that those whose "faith is weak eat only vegetables" and that "every animal created by God is good for eating". He has even gone so far as to call vegetarianism a doctrine taught by "hypocritical liarers" and "demons". QUESTION: Does Paul consider Jesus to be a "hypocritical liar" or "demon"? For, consider the following words of Jesus on vegetarianism; in the Essene New Testament we read: Jesus said: "God giveth the grains and the fruits of the earth for food; and for righteous man truly there is no other lawful sustenance for the body.... "Wherefore I say unto all who desire to be my disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths, for God is just and bountiful, who ordained that man shall live by the fruits and seeds of the earth alone." Of course, Jesus practiced what he preached: he was himself a vegetarian. In The Gospel of the Holy Twelve, we read: Jesus said: In another verse of the same manuscript, Jesus declares: Immediately prior to the above quotations of Jesus, I listed two excerpts which prove Paul upheld the eating of animals; but what about meat sacrificed to idols? In his epistle called "Corinthians" (the same epistle in which he ordered women to keep their heads covered as a sign of submission to their husbands -- or have their heads shaved bald as punishment -- and never to speak in church), Paul wrote: Compare the above words of Paul with the following words of Peter; in The Clementine Homilies, Peter declared: "But you are still ignorant of this law, that everyone who worships demons or their idols, or sacrifices to them, or partakes with them of their table, shall become subject to them and receive all punishment from them, as being under wicked lords. And you who, on account of ignorance of this law, have been corrupted beside their altars, and have been satiated with food offered to them, have come under their power, and do not know you have been in every way injured in respect of your bodies. But you ought to know that the demons have no power over any one, unless first he be their table-companion; since not even their chief can do anything contrary to the law imposed upon them by God wherein the demons have no power over any one who does not worship them by being their table-companions in the eating of flesh.... But you, being ignorant of the foreordained law, are under the power of the chief of demons through evil deeds, wherefore you are polluted in body and soul, and in the present life you are tyrannized over by sufferings and demons.... If therefore, ye wish to be the vesture of the Divine Spirit,.... neither believe in idols, nor partake with them of the impure table...." In the Clementine manuscript, Peter repeatedly uses the terms "table of the Lord" and "table of the demons." The term "table of the Lord" is used to indicate all vegetarian foods. The term "table of the demons" is used to indicate all non-vegetarian foods, all types of meat. IMPORTANTLY (very important in that it serves as a MAGIC KEY to unlock the true meaning of important passages in The New Testament), Peter asserts that anyone who eats any meat from any source is guilty of eating meat offered to demonic idols -- whether or not any sort of demonic ritual was connected to that particular piece of meat. That is so, insists Peter, because the practice of eating animal flesh was originally introduced by demons to humanity as a sacrificial rite. In reality it still is exactly that, according to Essene-Ebionite Peter, whether or not the flesh eater is aware of that fact. Thus, Peter concludes, "eating any animal flesh is always a tribute to the demons," is a "direct link" to various demonic rituals including "human sacrifice and cannibalism" and constitutes "EATING THINGS OFFERED TO IDOLS" -- a clear violation of the commandment against idol worship. All potential converts to Essene-Ebionite Christianity (original Christianity) were told they must choose between the table of the Lord or the table of the demons. There was no room for compromise. In regard to the Essene Christian belief that Paul was "demon-driven" in his effort to subvert the teachings of Jesus (assertion number five in our list of six), consider the following words of Peter in The Clementine Homilies: We see from the above that Paul, according to Essene Peter, may have been influenced by demons without knowing it. According to Peter, any human that eats meat becomes susceptible to demonic influence -- WHICH IS THE VERY REASON THE DEMONS INTRODUCED THE MEAT DIET TO HUMANITY IN THE FIRST PLACE. To the Essene Christians, how suspicious it must have seemed that: Again, I realize it may be difficult for some modern readers of this article to believe in disembodied demons. But I will confess here and now that I believe the Essene Christians were correct in their analysis: PAUL WAS UNWITTINGLY INFLUENCED BY DISEMBODIED NEGATIVE ENTITIES. I am not alone in my agreement with the early Essene Christians in this regard; consider the following words of Rev. V.A. Holmes-Gore, a respected scholar. In his book Christ or Paul, he writes: "It is clear from his own Epistles that Paul was the victim of evil forces and received his visions from an unreliable source, for in II Corinthians, he says: .... 'I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.... And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations... there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me....' Thus, Paul admits that his visions and revelations came to him from... a very unreliable source.... Had he been caught up into the seventh heaven, or into the Angelic world his evidence might have been trustworthy but that was not possible for one who befogged his spiritual vision by eating flesh and drinking wine.... "Various other sayings of Paul suggest that it was some kind of possession by the powers of evil.... Thus he speaks of having to wrestle against something not physical.... This passage and the reference to the 'thorn in the flesh' as the 'messenger of Satan' sent to buffet him show that Paul was the victim of the evil powers, and it is therefore easy to understand how, WITHOUT REALIZING IT OR EVER INTENDING IT, he became a vehicle of those influences which were determined to betray the Master's teachings and defeat His mission. "It is evident that when the principalities and powers failed to exterminate Christianity by accomplishing the Master's crucifixion through agents such as Caiaphas, Herod and Pontius Pilate, they tried another way of accomplishing their object. When they saw that the Gospel could not be exterminated they devised a more cunning means of rendering it ineffective. They used false teachers, of whom Paul is the most famous, to popularize the Gospel and rob it of its power to redeem mankind.... Thus did the evil powers use Paul as their Chief Apostle to defeat the very religion which he believed he was especially chosen to promote." We come now to the last in our list of six assertions from Schonfield and Larson. Assertion six is: PAUL HAD BEEN THE ENEMY OF ESSENE - CHRISTIANITY FROM THE BEGINNING, AND BECAUSE HE FAILED IN HIS FORMER OPEN HOSTILITY HE HAD CRAFTILY INFILTRATED THE MOVEMENT TO DESTROY IT FROM WITHIN, LEADING A SCHISM WHICH BECAME NUMERICALLY STRONG ENOUGH TO SUBDUE THE ORIGINAL CHURCH. In the course of dealing with the first five assertions from Schonfeld and Larson, we have already amply demonstrated the truth of the first portion of assertion six -- that Paul had been the enemy of Essene Christianity from the beginning -- and have at least touched on the other aspects of assertion six. But there is yet some fresh and fascinating material to consider in regard to this sixth and final assertion. Perhaps the most intriguing of our yet to be introduced material is found in the book, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception (the book documents how the Catholic church conspired to suppress the explosive contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls). In Chapter 16 of that book, a Chapter titled "Paul: Roman Agent or Informer", the authors, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, provide evidence to support our assertion that Paul "craftily infiltrated" the Christian movement to "destroy it from within": "Startling though the suggestion may be, it does seem... that Paul was some species of Roman 'agent'. Eisenman was led to this conclusion by the scrolls themselves, then found the references in the New Testament to support it.... Does Paul, then, belong in the company of history's 'secret agents'? Of history's informers?.... But in any case... the movement entrusted to the 'early Church' and the Qumran community was effectively hijacked and converted into something that could no longer accommodate its progenitors." Baigent and Leigh's reference above to "Eisenman", is in regard to a scholar named Robert Eisenman. Eisenman's research indicates that although most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written prior to Christianity, at least one of them -- the "Habakkuk Commentary" -- was written by early Essene Christians and concerns Paul. In that Scroll, Paul is referred to as "the Man of Lies"! In regard to the suggestion by Baigent and Leigh that Paul was some species of Roman "agent", they offer strong evidence in support, including: "These are not the only suspicious elements looming in the background of Paul 's biography. From the very beginning, his apparent wealth, his Roman citizenship and his easy familiarity with the presiding establishment have differentiated him from... other members of the 'early church'. Obviously, he has influential connections with the ruling elite. How else could so young a man have become the high priest's hatchet man? In his letter to the Romans (16:11), moreover, he speaks of a companion strikingly named 'Herodian' -- a name obviously associated with the ruling dynasty.... And Acts 13:1 refers to one of Paul's companions in Antioch as 'Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch'.... "Paul's heavily escorted departure from the city, his sojourn in luxury at Caesarea, his mysterious and utter disappearance... these things find a curious echo in our own era. One is reminded of beneficiaries of the 'Witness Protection Program'.... He consents to give evidence and testify.... Having cooperated with the authorities, he would then be given a 'new identity' and... resettled somewhere.... Does Paul, then, belong in the company of history's 'secret agents'? Of histories informers?" The reader may choose between two theories on the motive of Paul: 1) He was unwittingly influenced by negative, disembodied demons; 2) He was a secret agent planted by the Roman police, working in league with the Jewish puppet-government and high priest installed by Rome. My own opinion -- and this was the opinion of the Essene Christians -- is that both the above are true: Paul was unknowingly influenced by disembodied demonic powers and, also, worked knowingly with corrupt worldly powers. But regardless of Paul's motive, all of the sources in this article are in agreement in regard to the following: PAUL CRAFTILY INFILTRATED THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT AND SUBVERTED IT. Jesus, himself had warned of this; we read in Rev. V.A. Holmes-Gore's Christ or Paul: "This warning fits Paul, who taught that entry into the kingdom of Heaven depends upon faith, i.e. by calling Jesus "Lord, Lord", and did not teach the pure way of life by which alone man can enter the kingdom. And if we apply to Paul the test 'by their fruits ye shall know them' it is abundantly clear that he was a false prophet. We have seen that it was he who founded the Pauline Church in spite of the true Apostles' opposition. It was he who formulated its doctrines.... "The Christianity which the nations claim to follow is the religion of Paul, who is admittedly the chief and almost the only theologian that the Church recognizes. Because of his betrayal of the Master's teachings, the vision of true Christianity has been so dimmed that men have been able to defend war and a host of other evils, such as flesh eating and slavery, on the authority of the Bible. Had the teachings of the Master come down to us in their true form such misinterpretation would have been unthinkable.... "We may well grieve that Christians have failed to give more heed to the Master's warnings against false prophets...." Paul's schism -- "Paulianity"-- became numerically larger than the stricter, revolutionary, vegetarian, pro-woman, anti-slavery Essene Christianity. In fact, Paul's church became the Roman Catholic Church; in Chris Bennett's Green Gold the Tree of Life: "The... Roman Catholic Church (the Paulist Church) erased and reinterpreted much of the information regarding Christ's true gospel." Also supporting the assertion that Paul's church grew in size and eventually became the Roman Catholic Church is Gene Savoy; in his The Essaei Document, we read: "We see, then, that Paul was the father of Pagan Christianity [Roman Catholicism] a movement based on a concept completely foreign to Jesus, James, Peter and the Essaei community.... "It should be remembered that Paul persecuted the Essaei. He was armed with commissions and authority of the chief priests and took great pains to imprison as many as he could find.... "The theology that Paul created is not the religion of the Essaei.... Rome assumed control over it when the Roman emperor embraced Pauline Christianity.... "Palestinian Christianity [Essene Christianity] was displaced by Roman Christianity. The teachings of Jesus the Messiah were overshadowed by the teachings of Paul." Although Paul's Christianity -- "Paulianity" -- grew to be much larger than Essene Christianity (because it was so 'worldly' and watered-down it was easier for the masses to accept; they could continue to eat meat, own slaves and control wives), Essene Christianity did continue to exist. Up until the fourth century both types of Christianity existed as separate religions: Essene Nazarene Christianity and "Catholic Paulianity". But then, in the fourth century, the Catholic Church -- by then a large state-run religion -- sent their army to exterminate (as heretics!) the Essene Nazarenes. Nearly all the Essene Nazarenes were killed and most of their books (which contain the unadulterated teachings of Jesus) were burned. From that time on, Essene Nazarene Christianity existed only in small numbers as a hidden, underground religion, while Paulianity spread all over the planet. We have now concluded our examination of the six assertions made by Schonfeld and Larson. We found overwhelming evidence in support of each of the six assertions. Our supporting quotations came from the intellectual cream of humanity; thinkers such as: Thomas Jefferson, Carl Jung, Mahatma Gandhi, Robert Frost, Albert Schweitzer, Ernest Hemingway, Kahil Gilbran, Soren Kierkegaard, Will Durant, Martin Buber, George Bernard Shaw, and a host of others. We learned that Paul at first openly murdered Essene Christians -- even attempted to kill James, the Brother of Jesus -- and then faked a conversion so that he could infiltrate the movement. He then altered the teachings of Jesus and led a schism which evolved into the Roman Catholic Church and gave birth to all mainstream Christian denominations. We learned that Paul upheld slavery and downgraded women. We learned that Paul is responsible for the removal of Jesus' doctrine on vegetarianism from Christianity. We learned that Paul replaced Jesus' doctrine of salvation -- which was based on following his SAVING TEACHINGS -- with the Pauline doctrine of BELIEF IN JESUS' SACRIFICIAL DEATH. In essence, we learned that the religions of Jesus and Paul are as different as light and darkness, and that all of mainstream Christianity is the religion of Paul, not Jesus. (This does not mean that there are no "good" or "true" things in the letters of Paul; neither does it mean that mainstream Christianity is completely void of goodness. If the powers behind Paul had overtly preached only bad, dark things, they could not have convinced millions of souls to give their hearts and minds to Paulianity. No, they are much too sophisticated for that! The words of Paul are a mixture of good and evil, of truth and falsehood, of light and darkness. And so is mainstream Christianity such a mixture. Thus, in 1st Corinthians, sandwiched between Paul's upholding of slavery and downgrading of women, we find a beautiful poem on love [albeit the poem on love was lifted from The Essene Gospel of Peace and Paul recites it as if he wrote it himself!]. No, the powers behind Paul were experts in the field of propaganda and knew how to mix enough truth with their lies to keep people fooled. The speech writers of Hitler did the same. And most of the "good" things done by mainstream Christianity are attributable to the fact that the powers behind Paul were not completely successful in removing the words of Jesus from the New Testament.) Paul -- and the unseen powers that pulled his strings -- were not entirely successful. They did not succeed in completely eliminating the words of Jesus from the Bible. But it must be admitted that they did accomplish their main objective: to water-down the revolutionary message of Yahshua ha Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ). By removing vegetarianism from the New Testament, the powers behind Paul accomplished three things: Yes, the Pauline army won a battle. However, to win a battle is not to win a war. AND JESUS CHRIST DOES NOT LOSE A WAR. Love is not conquered by hate. Light is not defeated by darkness. Jesus is not vanquished by Paul. In fact, the tide of the battle has already turned: Jesus predicted these manuscripts would come to light when the world was ready to receive them; AND THAT TIME HAS COME! We read those words of prophecy in The Essene New Testament: Jesus said: In another section of the same ancient manuscript, Jesus prophesied: Jesus also said: The BLESSED DAY of the restoration of the true teachings of Jesus Christ has NOW COME! Truly, this is a time of great blessing, BUT IT IS ALSO A TIME OF CHOOSING. Every Christian must make a choice: I hereby issue a call to all Christians: REJECT PAULIANITY AND EMBRACE JESUS CHRIST! The first step is to give up eating meat; until then, the unseen powers behind Paul will whisper in your ear. And the flesh-eating Priests and Pastors of Paul will do more than whisper in your ear; they will scream in it! (And thump their Pauline Bibles more than a few times!) But their day is rapidly fading. A new day has dawned. The table of the Lord has been prepared; Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest Comments (1-65) not displayed.
#66. To: noone222 (#63)
I would say not. I haven't read it though.
LOL How many tabs you got open?
This is [Edit: In] the 1st sentence. It's also where I stopped reading and started ROFLMAO.
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom.~~William Wallace RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP
This is the first sentence: In previous articles published in The Essene Path, I have briefly touched on the topic of how Paul, the self-proclaimed Apostle, violently opposed the original vegetarian Essene Christianity of Jesus, first by killing and imprisoning its leaders, then by infiltrating the movement and leading a schism.
Edited. I broke my commandment never to comment on religious threads. Oh well...
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom.~~William Wallace RUN SILENT, RUN DEEP
Those people that are considered JEWS today didn't write any of the TORAH because at the time they were residing in Eastern Europe, what is now Germany, Poland, and Russia. Well JackMeOff, the Hebrews/Israelites WERE JEWS. The very notion of the Torah is the centerpiece of what evolved into modern Judaism. There are no Christians around today that wrote the New Testament either, does that mean that those calling themselves Christians aren't? Well ok, that might be more true than not, as many calling themselves Christians follow a religion that has virtually nothing to do with what Jesus taught.
Uh huh. And you are an idiot.
The Israelites weren't Muslim, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, or anything other than Jewish. Judaism is the religion which they followed, and no matter how you try to twist it, that remains an undeniable fact.
And that is what you believe because MEN told you that. MEN wrote something thousands of years ago, CLAIMED that "God" told them to write it, and you believe them. Okie dokie.
There is some truth to that though.
Do you know anything about the 'art' in the picture in #73?
As far as God working through the hands of men, that is true. As far as men writing a book and SAYING it was God that told them to write it, well, that's a bit of a stretch, especially when their god gives them instructions to massacre not just their enemies, but the women and children of their enemies.
It appears to be a sculpture of a resurrected Jesus amongst a bunch of stuff I can't make out. Do you have a direct link to the website?
The Essene sect did not believe in harming any living creature. Killing a living creature is harming it. They believed that God meant for Man to subsist on all of the other foods of the Earth, and that all of God's creatures lived in harmony until the time of the Fall, which is when the "fallen angels" came down upon Earth and taught men to kill, eat meat, and fabricate weapons for war. Prior to that time existed the "Garden of Eden", where no creature killed another.
The Hebrews/Israelites weren't "JEWS". Abraham wasn't a Jew, Isaac wasn't a Jew, nor was Jacob a Jew, even though the House of Israel is named for Jacob, whose name was changed from Jacob to Israel. Please try to get this because it's the very key to understanding the Middle-East mess, and the Bible itself. (These people are interlopers because they claim to be heirs of Abraham and are not). The entirety of Hebrews/Israelites descend from Shem through Abraham, while 90% of modern Jewry are descended from Japeth (a completely different ethnic geneology). Further study of the geneology of Japeth tells you these people of Japeth are the eventual enemy of Israel in THE LAST TIMES. Herein lies wisdom = (The enemy of Israel "get it" THE ENEMY OF ISRAEL, NOT ISRAEL. (Compare the geneology of Japeth at Genesis 10:3 with the geneology describing the attackers of Israel in the last days at Ezekiel 38. They are one and the same.) Have you never wondered why there were no synagogues in the old testament ? When Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees [in John Chapter 8] they say "we have never been in bondage to any man" ... ALL (get this because it's very relevant) and I do mean ALL ISRAELITES were in bondage to Pharoah. Jesus told the Pharisees (Who were TALMUDISTS that taught the TRADITIONS of MEN) "Your laws make my father's laws of NO EFFECT". He said this because after the 12 tribes had split into two factions and had been carried into 2 separate captivities, the ten northern tribes into Assyria, and ONLY the two southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin were taken to BABYLON. The 2 southern tribes returned as converts to the Babylonian (TALMUD) teachings that Jesus later spoke against vehemently and they built synagogues wherein they taught these beliefs which violated God's Laws. These people and their offspring which mingled their seed with the Edomites eventually became the Sephardic Jews because the Romans later ran them out of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The Judahites were trained in the ways of the Babylonians by ASHPENAZ, the eunuch, in Babylon. (See Daniel Chapter 1) These "ways of the Babylonians" are known to us today as the Babylonian Talmud, and were brought back from Babylon to Jerusalem/Palestine as was the thing called a SYNAGOGUE, which is not mentioned in old testament scripture. The Pharisees taught the Babylonian Talmud which Jesus spoke against. Most Christians (myself included) have been misled purposely to believe a lie by the POWERS THAT BE which includes the Church itself. The longer I live the more I am convinced that most of the things I have ever been taught are lies. The teaching that Jew = Hebrew or that Jew = Israelite is a blatant lie that is refuted by scripture itself. It's right in front of everyone's face, but everyone is too lazy to read their Bible with understanding. (My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge). It's easy for me to get angry when someone seems to be shutting their mind to the truth while calling me and the Bible itself a liar. Sometimes I curse because I get frustrated that people have been so brainwashed that they believe liars and scumbags with an agenda rather than the scriptures they claim to believe or claim to be obtaining their facts from. Later, it's easy for me to see that they are simply ignorant of the facts contained in the scriptures, and have had their mind sewn shut to prevent them from seeing. If it's meant to be their minds will be opened, if not maybe they're just not supposed to understand. (The Bible will never make sense until this point is understood. More relevant than even this at the moment is the fact that millions of God's creatures are being slaughtered needlessly by us in ignorance/darkness. In the end there are always going to be unanswered questions and mysteries. Who the modern day Jews are is not one of them. The facts have been distorted and clouded by fraud ... in spite of the fact that the Bible is very clear ! The much harder question is: WHO ARE THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL TODAY ? One last thing that I think is important for me to admit to you ... I WAS AS IGNORANT AS YOU ARE ON THIS SUBJECT AND FOUGHT THE TRUTH JUST LIKE YOU ARE DOING ... but, in order for me to resist this information I was forced to study and learn and ADMIT MY ERROR.
The Israelites weren't anything other than ISRAELITES. (Duh)- sorry. How many times will you have to be admonished of this "SIMPLE" thing ? And how can you ever learn heavenly things when you cannot understand earthly things ?
Even though the first 5 Books of the Bible (Torah) do explain the ethnicity requisite to inheritance OF THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT, and they clearly explain the geneology of Israelites as opposed to the people you keep trying to make their genetic brethern or kinfolk (JEWS), most pay no attention. Many of the other Books of the Bible further explain this misconception to a certainty. You have caused me to consider the reason for this limitation of Torah ... my conclusion is that there are too many facts available in the other books that would destroy the State of Israel concept AKA ZIONISM. Christianity doesn't claim an ethnic relationship purposed to claim and obtain land through genocide. The people claiming to be heirs of Abraham are not relatives and the Bible spells it out clearly. [The eyes to see and ears to hear quote is so pertinent as is the tree is known by its fruit quote ... ignored completely by Christianity.
Land of Confusion ... let's make it a place worth living in !
WHAT is THAT monstrosity ?!?!?!? .
Click for Privacy and Preparedness files Nehemiah 4:14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.
WHAT is THAT monstrosity ?!?!?!? Here's another one ... signing at the European Union before the KING of the WORLD ... Pontifix Maximus
That is a very interesting picture. I've never seen anything like it. Daniel 8:23? And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors (8802) are come to the full (8687) , a king of fierce countenance, and understanding (8688) dark sentences, shall stand up (8799) .
Click for Privacy and Preparedness files Nehemiah 4:14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.
I don't believe it because men told me that. I believe it because of the truth in it. Man is not capable of writing a book like that. Then there is the prophecy that comes true. God knows the end and the beginning of history. Take for example Revelation chapter 13 v 7. About the mark of the Beast. When that was written it would have been impossible to happen. It sounded far out and no way could someone control the buying and selling of every man woman and child on the planet. Couldn't have been done back then. But it talked about the future. Well reality is now it can be done with computer technology and microchips. Then there is where the Bible talks about what can only be sattelite TV.
It is happening BECAUSE of what is written, not the other way around... I could write a book today that predicts politicians will lie, and of course that will become true. I could write a book that predicts an evil world leader will cause millions to die, and that will eventually become true. However, the "mark of the beast" thing could have meant many things, and those pulling the strings have pursued that action to STRIKE FEAR in those who believe in the Book of Revelations and what it predicts. Perhaps it's simply because it's all happened before, who knows. But as far as God, he doesn't write books, nor does he need to. He (and She) speak to Men through the Spirit, not through the words of men with an agenda.
Answer me this. What religion did the Israelites practice? What religion did Jesus, Mary, and Joseph follow?
No one could have known that technology to monitor and control the buying and selling of everyone on earth would someday be controlled. The response highlighted is the lamest response I have ever seen from you.
Only if you want to twist the words. If you hold the words to their true meaning and use that standard for reading the Bible. And taking it literally. You may someday be able to comprehend the truth. Your comparisons of predicting an evil leader are very lame. That is to general. The Bible is pretty specific.
No mention of technology is given in the Book of Revelations. It simply says that everyone will be forced to wear the Mark of the Beast. That could have meant MANY things. It could have meant circumcision, it could have meant a tattoo, it could have meant virtually anything.
You are so hopelessly deluded, you wouldn't know the truth if it bit you in the behind, yet you think you have an absolutely firm handle on it and refuse to consider logical contradictions in your "truth". I look at human nature and see that the truth of what is happening EVEN TODAY is buried and subverted by evil people, yet you think the words of men that lived thousands of years ago are the ultimate truth and have remained true to what they wrote, if there ever was an ultimate truth to what they originally put down on paper. Good luck to you with all that.
They were instructed to follow God's Laws. (Old Testament-Moses). This would be the Ten Commandments, along with lesser ordinances (food laws etc.) Mat 5:18 For verily I (Jesus) say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Just a reminder ... they didn't have a NEW TESTAMENT. If we have a disagreement it has to do with the ethnic origins of those we call JEWS today as opposed to those people known as Hebrews or Israelites of the Old Testament. They simply are two separate and distinct ethnic groups.
So their religion is called what?
You see, when I speak of a Jew, I'm not talking about their lineage, I'm talking about their religion. The belief in the Torah is called Judaism. There are obviously different brands of Judaism, but that IS the generic term. Have you even bothered reading the info on the Essene sect? They were a Jewish sect, but their beliefs were quite different than that of the Pharisees. Their beliefs were what Jesus actually taught, because he WAS an Essene.
I don't know that they called it anything. I find myself more inclined to believe that they were closer to the essenes in operation of their lives for a number of reasons. But, that's just my opinion. As regards the Old Testament writers (regardless of whether the ultimate author is/was God) they were Hebrews/Israelites. The New Testament writers were Greek ! Understanding the ethnic nature of modern Jewry requires you to understand that a mass conversion to Judaism took place in the far reaches of Eastern Europe in 750 A.D. (long after Jesus walked the earth, as well as Abraham). These folks that "converted" were not related to Abraham at all, but today they make up 90% of the Jewish population. They weren't around when the scriptures were written. In order to have a better understanding one needs to understand the difference between Ashkenazim Jews (Majority/Converts) and Sephardic Jews (Minority/ethnic). And even then it's still difficult to determine just how ethnic the Sephardic Jews are because scriptures inform us that they inter- married with the edomites in the days of the Maccabees thereby reducing their Israelite lineage ... and the Inquisitions of the Roman Church were directed at the Spanish (Sephardic) Jews. I have many questions and have resigned myself to not ever knowing exactly who's who. But, it is possible to know some things, such as who were the writers of scripture and who were descendants of Abraham. The Ashkenazim Jews are named for Ashkenaz, the grandson of Japeth. Japeth was the Patriarch of a completely different branch of Noah's descendants that didn't include Abraham.
Revelation is symbolism, but some people take it literally. Or will there really be a 7 headed monster that comes out of the sea, sort of like Hydra (with crowns?)? People pick and choose what they want to be literal, and what they want to be symbolic. Same thing with the "lake of fire". It's symbolism. I think you're right. People have been taught things that square with what TPTB want them to think it means. They want it to mean a chip, tattoo, whatever. It has nothing to do with that. .
Click for Privacy and Preparedness files Nehemiah 4:14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.
The term Jew is misused and confuses the issue of the covenant/inheritance of the promised land. You wouldn't consider someone that converted to Catholicism the rightful heir to property in Rome because of their religion, would you ?
The early followers of Christ were under the yoke of the Romans and had to use symbols in order to spread the message. This certainly leaves room for much speculation, which leads to people picking and choosing symbols to represent their conclusions.
I don't consider those calling themselves Jews to be the rightful heirs of Israel either. I refer to Judaism as a central belief in the teachings of the Torah, but I don't view the Torah as absolute truth, I see it as containing SOME elements of truth along with the words of men who wished to portray THEMSELVES and their descendents as "chosen people", where they are no different than you or I.
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