The Legacy of Christianity

[Adrian]

Hello everyone,

Herewith is an essay I wrote that was to have been a chapter in by forthcoming book. I have, for now at least, decided to remove this chapter so that people can realise the truth of Life, the Universe and the Destiny of Mankind based on the reality accepted by many cultures across the planet over the course of many millennia, and not by a rebuttal of the very basis of the "belief system" of millions thereby risking the alienation of the very people I am reaching out to.

As with all things relating to christianity nothing can be proven in absolute terms and my essay is merely the result of my own research which is very open to discussion, rebuttal and alternative viewpoints.

Best regards,

Adrian.


The Legacy of Christianity

There is certainly no denying the comfort Christianity and indeed religious belief systems in general has brought to many millions of people all over the world over the centuries, but at what cost to the human race? Over the course of the last two millennia in particular, as the stranglehold of the orthodox Christian churches has increased, it is a historical fact, whether the church chooses to face it or not, countless millions of people have over the centuries been horribly tortured and murdered in the name of the Christianity.

Of course, in the last two centuries or so it has largely become unacceptable to enforce the official dogma of the church by means of violence, intimidation and death. However, people today still continue to feel psychologically intimidated by churches and their doctrines, often believing for example that upon passing from physical life they will be committed to "hell" and "damnation" for failing to believe in the religious concept of God and heaven, and for failing to accept Jesus as their "saviour"; a threat very often repeated by Christians throughout the world when attempting to "convert" "non-believers" to the Christian faith. Physical violence has therefore largely given way to psychological violence.

It is largely due to the mass indoctrination by Christianity that countless millions of people have been led astray over the centuries from the true and rightful destiny of the human race. This long-term indoctrination has often caused people to fail to prosper in daily life, and has often caused needless suffering.

Churches have been, and still are conveniently located in many villages, towns and cities where people are led to believe they can enter the church and subscribe to a conveniently packaged belief system, thereby ensuring an automatic ticket to "heaven", providing only they attend and follow the official creed and dogma of the church and embrace Jesus as their as their "saviour".

One of the largest influences on the spread of Christianity has been and still largely is the fact that for many centuries Christianity in the form of "religious education" and "scripture" has been taught in schools to impressionable, young, trusting children as if it were an undisputable fact, rather than, as it really is, something to be discussed and debated as a matter of historical interest. Children in schools are also still to this day in many parts of the world made to sing hymns, "praise Jesus", and pray to the Christian concept of God the deity, all of which instils in the minds of young impressionable children the official dogma of the Church from a very early age.

Children quite naturally respect and believe what they are taught in schools, and by their parents and elders, and would never seek to question these things. As direct a result, countless millions of children have throughout history grown up to become fully indoctrinated adults, faithfully believing in the official creed and dogma of the Christian religion as it was taught by their elders as if it were a fact, and in most cases never thinking to question it. The irony is that rather than remaining in "heaven" after passing on, the only solution for most people who are still influenced by the religion is to return to Earth once again in order to learn the true lessons required for onward progression. If those people once again become trapped in the creed and dogma of the church during the current life, the cycle simply continues just as it has for many hundreds of years.

These are some of the reasons together with rampant materialism and an uncontrolled ego why mankind has failed for the most part to achieve true progress, peace, harmony and happiness, and why there is still so much suffering on this planet rather than being, as it should be, "the kingdom of heaven on Earth".

Many large volumes could be written as to the effects of Christianity over the ages, but the reality is past cannot be altered, and we must now focus on the present and the future for the sake of all humanity, and in particular for the sake of our children to whom we have a special responsibility. If mankind is to progress and realise its ultimate potential, the myth and legacy of Christianity should be dispelled once and for all, that the human race can once again pursue its rightful and ultimate destiny.

The main basis and reference point of Christianity is the so-called "holy bible". If a religious person is asked or challenged about any aspect of the Christian religion, the answer will almost invariably arrive in the form, "because it is written within the bible, and the bible is the word of God". This in turn invariably becomes a circular argument, in that the only evidence such people can ever provide for the accuracy, and therefore authority of the contents of the bible, is the bible itself. Without the bible there is quite simply no basis whatsoever for the Christian religion or therefore of its doctrines; Christianity quite simply would not and could not exist without the bible as it is today as its main self-justification.

There is absolutely no tangible evidence whatsoever that the bible itself, any of the "books" from which it is constituted, or indeed any the people who supposedly wrote those books ever actually existed. There is very considerable evidence however that the very basis of what came to be known as the "holy bible" is actually the direct result of a very diverse range of beliefs, legends, stories, superstitions and fables originating from many parts of the world, and in particular from within the Mediterranean, Middle and Far Eastern regions. There is not much doubt the man known as "Jesus" actually existed, the big question being who and what he really was, and what he really did and said during the very brief public aspect of his life.

During the time Jesus was believed to have lived, there is considerable evidence to suggest he was a member of a Spiritual order known as the Essenes, who were one of three main groups of the time associated with the Jewish faith; the other two being the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Further, many of the ethical teachings of the Essenes can be traced directly back to the origins of Buddhism which originated around five hundred years before Jesus was born. The Essenes, in addition to being a highly Spiritual order, were also ascetics, teachers and healers; virtues which were also attributed to Jesus.

Currently available evidence suggests Jesus spent much of his life, thirty years or so, with the Essene order, before eventually setting out alone, principally to teach Spiritual truths to the people of the region and to heal the sick; this was the part of his life that was the most visible, and therefore the part where most of the stories, myths and legends surrounding Jesus first originated. It should noted that the services Jesus provided to the people of the region were by no means unique, being also provided by many others at that time, and in particularly by those who, like Jesus, were members of one of the Spiritual orders of the time. Many of the stories involving the teachings of Jesus are almost identical to existing teachings of Buddhism, including the Prodigal Son, the Loaves and Fishes and the story of Peter walking on water.

Many of the philosophies, teachings and healing services of Buddhism were, and still are today, remarkably similar to those of the Essenes. The Jewish Talmud, which pre-dates the time of Jesus, also refers to parables of "The marriage feast", the "Labourers in the vineyard" and the "Pearl of great price". What Christians came to refer to as the "last supper" was in fact a long standing Essene tradition which was observed before a brother of the Essene order was to embark on a long journey or mission. The origin of this simple ceremony can in turn be traced to Mithraism, the worship of the god Mithra, which was still highly prevalent at the time of Jesus.

There is considerable evidence that Mithraism profoundly influenced the basis and the origins of the Christian religion, the people of the time not being prepared to fully divest themselves of their existing, long standing customs, traditions and beliefs at the whim of Emperor Constantine. The god Mithra was still very important to the people of the region at the time of Jesus and for centuries afterwards, and there is no way the people could or would simply set this aside.

The resemblance between Buddhism and early Christianity is so profound, many of the early Christian missionaries believed Buddhism must have copied Christianity, not realising of course Buddhism had actually already existed for hundreds of years before Christianity was invented, and was already spreading around the world long before Jesus was even born. The word "Christian" originated in Greece; oil was used to anoint kings and priests, the word "Christ" meaning "the anointed one". Jesus was hence given the name "Christ the Anointed One", which eventually became abbreviated to simply "Jesus Christ". Such anointments were by no means unique or even uncommon: there were numerous other "anointed ones" or "Christ's" at the time, this being a popular tradition of the area. At the time of Jesus there were also many teachers and healers, members of the Essenes and other orders, who were all equally regarded as "messiah's".

It was Jesus however who, due to circumstance it seems, happened to be in the right place at the right time, and hence came to be known as "The Messiah". It was Paul who is believed to have elevated Jesus to this level, and Paul himself was by all accounts influenced by the ancient religions of Egypt and Greece, and in particular by the Egyptian god Osiris and the Greek god Dionysus.

Numerous stories, fables, legends, customs and beliefs that can be traced back as originating from all over the Middle Eastern region over the course of many centuries were brought together as the basis for what was to become a centralised, orthodox religion, which was later to become Christianity. It wasn't in fact until several hundred years later at the Council of Carthage in 397 CE, that everything previously gathered relating to these diverse and disparate stories, fables, legends, customs and beliefs, together with the core basis of the existing Mithraic religion, were brought together to form a canon which subsequently became the basis for the new testament of the "holy bible". The old and new testaments were eventually brought together to form a single book in the 6th century CE.

It was not until twelve hundred years later in the year 1611 the book, after countless amendments, even began to resemble the bible in the form it is known today. Nevertheless, the book of 1611 still differs considerably to the book known today as the "Holy Bible", and which in turn differed to the original book first contrived in 397 CE at Council of Carthage.

Over the course of the centuries, numerous discussions took place in order to decide which books of the bible were to be officially considered as Divinely inspired, and amendments were then made accordingly. Not only were numerous such amendments made, almost entirely on the whims, beliefs, prejudices, influences and existing religion of the people involved, it was also heavily influenced by the aspirations of the individual church leaders of the time in controlling the masses, its congregation. Rather than being inspired by the Divine, by God, the bible therefore was almost entirely inspired by the human desire for power, control, and in many cases corruption.

In the year 325 CE considerable debate took place as to whether Jesus should be regarded as exactly the same as God, in other words God incarnate as the only "son" of God, or as an equal aspect of God. Ultimately after much argument, debate and discussion, it was voted Jesus was to hold the unique position of being the only son of God, therefore occupying a rank above everything and everyone else except for God Him/Herself.

In order to formally endorse this contrived official status of Jesus, over two thousand representatives gathered in Nicaea, consisting of members of the very early Christian church and also of paganism, notably the followers of the dominant Mithraic religion. As a result of this diverse assembly, numerous resolutions were placed before Emperor Constantine, who in turn subsequently burned them all, apparently to prevent the contents therein from becoming common knowledge. This assembly gave rise to the "Nicene Creed", which officially recognised Jesus as having been slain as a "God-man", and thus, Jesus became the seventeenth such person in history in fact to have suffered exactly the same fate.

The Nicene Creed was duly granted royal ascent, and a royal directive was then issued that everyone must believe in it, and that Christianity was to become the official religion of Rome thenceforth. This then was the origin of Christianity, the basis of the religion as it was to become and still is today, notwithstanding the numerous amendments applied to the original texts over the course of the following sixteen hundred years. The content of what was to become the holy bible was argued over and debated for many years thereafter, based not upon any particular true historical or factual evidence, but rather on individual opinions, beliefs, prejudices, preferences and aspirations, and in particular the controlling aspirations of the early Christian religion and the rulers of the time.

It was not until 170 years after the death of Jesus that the collection of documents came together to form the basis of what was to eventually become the bible, and therefore the Christian religion. Finally in the year 397 CE under the direction of Emperor Constantine, this entire collection of documents was formed into the canon of what was to become the basis for the old testament of the bible.

At around the same time a further collection of documents of unknown origin was brought together which had originally been written in Greek and subsequently translated into Latin. These documents eventually became the basis of what was to become the new testament.

Around 400 CE both of these collections of documents were brought together, and during the 6th century CE were eventually formed into what is now known as the combined old and new testaments. These first versions of the bible were very different indeed to the current version, which in turn did not come into being until the year 1611, sixteen hundred years after the passing of Jesus.

Over the course of the next twelve hundred years, following the assembly in Nicaea, numerous discussions were held as to which parts of the bible were to be officially considered to be Divinely inspired, the "word of God", and which were not. During the course of this process considerable bias was exerted according to the ideas, ideals and aspirations of the people involved, and in particular of the controlling influences of the time.

By 1611 there existed a collection of documents, mostly of completely unknown origin, purporting, in the case of the new testament to largely document the life and teachings of a person known in Greek as Jesus, all of which in turn was based around documents originally compiled twelve hundred years previously by two thousand or so people also of unknown origins or motives. As previously mentioned, the majority if not all of these original documents were thrown out by Emperor Constantine, who apparently used his position and reputation as a tyrant to decide for himself what should or should not be included or rejected as the basis for the new religion.

By 1611 even the original documents such as they were had been translated, interpreted, and influenced so many times by so much and by so many different people over the course of many centuries, no one really knew what the originally compiled documents even looked like, much less how and where they originated. The very basis for the bible and therefore the church had been reduced to faith and word of mouth handed own over the centuries.

Between 1611 and the present day the bible has undergone so many further changes, it has very little resemblance even to the bible of 1611. By this time the book known as the "holy bible", the basis for the Christian religion, can be most justifiably considered to be nothing more than a human construct designed for individual and national aspirations, and based upon a very loose collection of disparate stories, fables, legends, customs and beliefs originated two thousand or more years ago from various countries today constituting the Mediterranean, Middle and Far East. Suffice it to say that if the bible were presented in a court of law today as evidence of the life and teachings of a person known as Jesus, it would almost certainly be summarily rejected due to lack of evidence, being based almost exclusively on hearsay, unproven documents and unsubstantiated faith.

It wasn't until the year 527 CE that a group of monks were called together and given the task of deciding when Jesus was to have been born. Eventually the emperor decided that 25 December should be the appropriate date for the official birth of Jesus, this already being the date readily accepted by the people as the birth date of their existing god, Mithra. It should be noted that even five hundred years after Jesus the Mithraic religion was still prevalent and exerted a considerable influence.

One hundred and fifty years later in the year 680 CE, a further meeting of monks was ordered to decide how Jesus was to have died. As a result it was decided Jesus was to have died on a cross. From 680 CE onwards the cross was made the official symbol of the new religion, eventually replacing the lamb that had been the official symbol of the Mithraic religion. So it was not until nearly seven hundred years after Jesus that it was decided that he died on a cross, one hundred and fifty years after the birth date of Jesus was decided.

This is particularly significant considering the importance and significance of the cross in the doctrines of the Christian religion. It was also around this time the truth of reincarnation was removed from the official church doctrines and replaced instead with the doctrines of "heaven" and "hell". These conceptsmade it much easier for the officials of the church to control their congregations by literally scaring people into believing they would go to "hell and damnation for all eternity" at the pleasure of "satan", if they did not believe, accept and conform to the official teachings of the church and accept Jesus as their saviour.

In order to subsume the pagan religions which to that point had been so dominant, the pagan festivals, which were widely observed and celebrated, were replaced with the now familiar Christian festivals such as Easter and Christmas. Where pagans would celebrate the winter solstice, Yule, Christians now celebrate Christmas. This was undoubtedly a major factor influencing the decision made in 537 CE as to when Jesus was born.

Similarly with Easter which derives from the Pagan festival Ostara from which Easter derives its named. Ostara is celebrated on the spring equinox, Ostara literally meaning "egg", the egg being symbolic of the beginning of the new cycle of life of nature for the coming year. Most pagan religions observe nature and the cycle of the seasons as also representing the cycle of birth, life, death, and rebirth; the same cycle occurring with human beings, all life and indeed the entire Universe.And so it was the proponents of the Christian religion throughout the centuries have sought to suppress the old religions, replacing them with their newly contrived religion.  

After the Nicene Creed and the imperial decree following the council of Nicaea that everyone shall now accept Christianity as the official religion, the persecution and execution of non-conformists began, and continued almost until the present day. During this long period of time around twenty five million people have been horribly tortured and murdered in the name of the Christian religion and in the names of Jesus and God.

At the final analysis it was the decision of just one man, the tyrant Emperor Constantine to create Christianity, ordering it to become the official religion of the Roman empire thus replacing Mithraism, that is the root cause of the existence of Christianity today. It was also due to the fact the Roman empire at the time, and for several hundred years afterwards was so strong and powerful, having invaded, conquered and controlled many countries in the Middle East and Europe, that caused Christianity to spread so rapidly to a large proportion of the World under the dominant and tyrannical influence of Emperor Constantine and his imperial successors.

Ironically, had Constantine decided instead that Mithraism was to become the official imperial religion, then Mithraism would almost certainly have become the dominant religion of the World due to the widespread influence of the Roman empire, and Christianity would almost certainly be completely unheard of today. It can thus be justifiably concluded that this one man, Emperor Constantine, a vicious tyrant who apparently murdered his own wife, son and nephew, created the Christian religion for purposes know only unto himself. He also decreed, almost unilaterally due to his power, what should or should not be included as the basis of the new religion, and therefore included within the contents of the book that was to become the canon for first version of the bible.

It is this period in history that can be readily traced as a root cause of the following centuries of creed, dogma and indoctrination afflicting the world so adversely at a cost of untold misery to millions of people over the millennia, many of whom still faithfully follow this same religion today much to their detriment if they did but know it.

So much for the origins of Christianity, but what of its substance? As has already been noted, all available evidence points to the fact that the basis of the documents which were to eventually become the bible consisted of numerous individual stories, fables and legends, mostly passed on by word of mouth, originating from all over the Mediterranean, Middle and Far Eastern regions. We have already noted how Buddhism, which by that time had already been established several hundred years previously and was already at the time of Jesus spreading around the world, almost certainly influenced the groups of Spiritual people, teachers and healers of the time, most notably the Essenes of which Jesus was almost certainly a member. There is also very considerable evidence pointing to the fact that a significant proportion of the contents the bible are actually reconstructed components of the Mithraic religion of the Roman empire, which religion was so prevalent and dominant at the time of Emperor Constantine.

As we have already noted, it was the tyrant Emperor Constantine himself who was the most responsible for deciding on the contents of the original version of the bible, and which he apparently did based upon his own preferences, beliefs and motives. Again it must be noted that this original bible is very different indeed to the modern day bible, and indeed very different again to how the bible looked just four hundred years ago. Accordingly it would seem most likely that in order to construct the new religion that was to become Christianity, and to make it acceptable to the masses, in addition to the stories, fables and legends which were so well known at the time it was also necessary to construct the new religion with the existing Mithraic tradition as its basis, as well as the inclusion of material from other popular and much practiced Pagan traditions so prevalent at the time. Again, this is a major reason why the perpetrators of early Christianity deemed it so necessary to absorb and subsume the old religions, including the long established pagan festivals and customs. It took quite some time for the people to accept Jesus as an alternative to Mithra who to that point had been their saviour, and who had also been slain as a "God-man" for the sins of the world.

The parallels between Christianity, Mithraism and other pagan religions of the region are most remarkable. For example, in the early Christian doctrine Jesus was born in a cave; Mithra was also born in a cave. The mother of Mithra was a virgin, and when Mithra was born, shepherds came to adore him and to offer him gifts; which is of course is identical to the story contrived around the birth of Jesus. Upon his death, Mithra was buried in a rock tomb, and when later his body was later sought it could not be found. Again, exactly the same story was told of Jesus and the resurrection. Mithra passed into hades and then rose again from the dead signifying to the people that on the last day a resurrection of the dead would take place, at which point Mithra would return to judge the world. Again, as can very clearly be seen, the parallels between the long established legends of Mithra and the story of Jesus are very remarkable indeed.

Mithraism predated Jesus and therefore Christianity by at least seventy years as the officially accepted religion of the Roman Empire. Mithraism was however practiced at least four hundred years previously as a religion in Persia, from where the Romans originally discovered and accepted it as their own. These two religions, Christianity and Mithraism, existed and were practiced side by side for three hundred years or so until such time as eventually Christianity gained the upper hand, due in no small part to the orders of the Emperors ruling at the time.

And so it was the Mithraic religion, together with all of the other popular pagan religions of the time were eventually absorbed into Christianity along with their respective stories, beliefs, traditions, customs and festivals. In the fullness of time, due to their inclusion within the Christian religion, the Mithraic religion was largely forgotten, as due to the decrees of the ruling Emperors Christianity was accepted as the only available and official belief system for the masses, and one that had to be followed by imperial decree against the threat of persecution and death.

Another considerable contributor to the construct that was to become the Christian religion was the region of Babylon that had a very considerable influence on the entire region of the time, including the Roman empire. In Babylon, as with many other countries at the time, the sacrifice of a god who was also recognised as a saviour of mankind was quite a common aspect of the local religions. The legend of the death of Prometheus is one such example, the death of the Babylonian god Bel being another. The Egyptian god Osiris was also slain under similar circumstances, as was Dionysus.

Significantly, and as has been already noted, Paul, to whom a significant proportion of the new testament of the bible is attributed, was heavily influenced by both gods Osiris and Dionysus. Most notably Dionysus was also said to be the "only begotten", was also a saviour, and was also born again; all very strong and prevalent legends and beliefs at the time the early Christian religion was being constructed by the Romans under Constantine.

History suggests according to the religions and customs of the region, no less than sixteen "God-men" were previously slain before Jesus, who subsequently became the seventeenth such "God-man" to be slain in succession. This is an extremely important factor when considering the basis of Christianity, which claims Jesus died for the sins of mankind and was therefore the "saviour" of mankind. This was a very common theme for thousands of years before the era of Jesus, where the symbolic slaying of a "God-man" was enacted as part of a greater story designed to teach the masses a belief system in terms they could understand.

Such methods of religious teaching by means of stories, fables and elaborate and colourful plays, are still very popular today, particularly in Hinduism. It is very easy indeed therefore to see how these in turn also became the basis for the new religion now known as Christianity. The new religion needed to be sufficiently familiar to the masses in order to be fully accepted, and the way to ensure this was to include the same traditions, beliefs and themes the population were already completely familiar with, and fully accepted. Thus there was no inertia to overcome, and acceptance of a new religion derived from the old, existing religions was a completely natural process, even though the process of full conversion took place over many hundreds of years, often involving coercion, persecution and murder.

One particularly compelling piece of evidence as to the Babylonian influence over the Jesus story construct came about with the discovery of a ancient tablet now housed within the British Museum, which relates the drama of the Babylonian god Bel. As has already been mentioned, Babylonia exerted a considerable influence over the Roman Empire at the time. The drama of Bel proceeds as follows: Bel is taken prisoner; Bel is taken to the halls of justice; Bel is smitten; Bel is led away to the mount; Bel was taken to the mount with two malefactors, one of whom is released; the city breaks out into chaos; the clothes of Bel are taken away; Bel goes down into the mount and disappears; a weeping woman seeks Bel at the burial gates; Bel is brought back to life. This legend should be very familiar indeed to those who have read almost exactly the same story of Jesus as related within the bible.

The story of Bel originated around two thousand years before the birth of Jesus and was still well known and related within the region at the time of Jesus. Considering the prevalent beliefs and worship of the God Mithra, the story of which is very similar to those of both Bel and Jesus as well as many legendary figures before them the knowledge and worship of which was still very prevalent in the region, it is very easy to see the convenience, and indeed the necessity of simply applying these same familiar legends to the story of Jesus, especially from the point of view of acceptability to the masses, where at the final analysis only the name of the leading character of the story differed from those of Mithra, Bel and other well known gods.

The legend of the god Bel is by no means unique. Throughout history there have been legends of gods and God-men who have suffered, been committed to trial, have been crucified and subsequently rose from the dead. In all of these cases the pagan gods would rise from the dead at the spring equinox, the time now known as Easter, previously known to pagans as Ostara from which Easter derives its name, in order to signify the beginnings of new life after the dead months of winter. The story of Jesus was almost certainly constructed from exactly the same beliefs and customs, having already been well established for thousands of years previously. It was only natural therefore to incorporate these same legends and beliefs into the stories of Jesus, again in order to provide complete familiarity and acceptability to the masses. There was no point inventing completely new stories as the basis for the new religion when they had previously served the old religions so well for millennia.

Using stories and plays to teach Spiritual knowledge to the masses was extremely common around the time of Jesus, and indeed in some cultures is still carried on today, as for example within the Hindu faith. The Hindu faith in many ways is very similar to the religions prevalent in the Middle East of thousands of years before. Hinduism itself, like Buddhism, predated Christianity by a considerable period of time. The stories and plays related within the Hindu faith were never intended to be taken literally; they rather were and still are entirely symbolic representations presented in the form of stories, fables, plays, songs and dances, designed only to teach important Spiritual truths to the masses in a manner which they would readily accept and understand.

As previously mentioned, the original story of Jesus, thus constructed from existing religions, stories and legends of the region, was continuously embellished over the course of many centuries, and for example, as has already been mentioned, it was not until the year 680 CE it was decided Jesus was to have died on a cross; one of the most important of all of the Christian symbols. It is also most notable that none of the highly respected historians at the time of Jesus, men of the considerable stature of Pliny, Plutarch, Seneca and others, completely failed to mention the alleged happenings surrounding the legends of Jesus. Surely if Jesus had been so important at the time, he would at the very least have been mentioned by these highly respected historians.
Most of the well-known bible stories themselves can be shown conclusively to have originated long before the time of Jesus.

Stories such as Adam and Eve, the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel all originated in Babylon thousands of years before Jesus, and all of which were still well known at the time Christianity was contrived. The "Lords Prayer" was composed in Babylon, again, long before the time of Jesus; the tablet upon which it is written having been discovered in 1882. The Lords Prayer is also one of the oldest Jewish prayers, believed to have been learned in Babylon at the time of the Jewish captivity in the region. No one knows who really wrote any of the words or books now constituting the bible. None of these original books forming the basis of the bible are known to exist, and there is no evidence suggesting they ever did exist in the form included within the bible. No one knows exactly when, how or by whom these books were written, or for what purpose except for the purposes of supporting the dogma of the new imperial religion. However, the many early examples of manuscripts as originally submitted for consideration by Emperor Constantine as the basis for the early Christian bible all differ from each other, seemingly in accordance with what their respective writers thought should, or should not be included in the books forming the basis of the new religion, based upon their own preferences. Subsequently it seems, because these diverse writings were not considered to look sufficiently like the word of God, they were re-written and amended numerous times until eventually considered by Emperor Constantine to be suitable for incorporation in the bible as the official word of God.

For all of this there is no disputing the man known as Jesus existed around two thousand years ago. However, rather than being the official "saviour" of mankind or the only "son of God", he was much more likely to have been a Spiritual teacher and healer, almost certainly a member of the Essenes, and who in the years just prior to his death embarked on a journey to provide healing and teaching to a wider range of people in the area. During this time he evidently gained the admiration, respect and following of a significant number of people in the region.

It should be noted that Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha, was also widely admired and followed, but was never elevated to the status of "God-man" or the son of God, and was never claimed to be a saviour of all mankind. There is not much doubt that like Siddharta Gautama, Jesus influenced the people of the time with his work, just as people throughout history have similarly influenced the masses. The Jewish Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a, relates the fate of a man called Jesus who was arrested for practicing sorcery and leading Jews astray, was tried, condemned and stoned, before being hanged from a tree on the eve of Passover.

From what is known of Jesus and his work and the attitudes of people of the time, this is much more likely to be nearer to the truth than the morass of fanciful stories and constructs surrounding his life and death which only appeared much later during the construction of the Christian religion. In all reality, and in accordance with the facts as they are now known, the life and times of Jesus should rightfully be placed alongside the other numerous stories, fables, legends, religions and beliefs so prevalent at the time throughout the region and indeed the world, much of which had already been taking place and was well established thousands of years previously.

When Christianity finally triumphed over Mithraism the world suffered a setback from which it would not begin to recover for twelve hundred years, a period in time which included the dark ages, a thousand years of the darkest period ever in recent human history. The crusades are another example of the influence of Christianity over mankind, being one continuous massacre, with hymn singing and prayers mixed with treachery, butchery and general cruelty on a monstrous scale.

Other examples of such horrors wrought upon human beings include the inquisition and the burning of witches at the stake. There are numerous other episodes of such barbarism, attrocities and cruelty inflicted throughout history, all causing untold misery, murder and grief in the name of Christianity.

Much more can be said, indeed enough to fill a very large book as to the origins, Cause and Effects of the Christian religion, from its very origins, down through the centuries to where it is today. Notwithstanding the extreme misery Christianity has wrought upon tens of millions of people, suffice it to say it should be readily apparent by now that the very basis of Christianity is seriously, irreparably and irretrievably flawed, and was from the very outset. Accordingly, everything that has transpired since those most dubious origins is almost entirely worthless for what it is except possibly for historical interest where the legend of Jesus can be compared with the legends of Bel, Dionysus, Osiris and many other such famous legendary figures who were the figureheads of the religions and belief systems so prevalent at the time, as well as the considerable influence of the god Mithra.

Even the original construct of the bible under Emperor Constantine has been translated, retranslated and modified countless times, all in the interests of establishing and maintaining Christianity as a global orthodox religion, a religion which has throughout history sought to control the people and indeed entire nations with its intimidation, indoctrination and terror, and in more recent times by continuing creed, dogma and indoctrination of impressionable young children and others who trust their teachers and elders to each and show then the true meaning and path of life.

The cost of the effects of Christianity over the last two millennia has been vast, not only in terms of the misery and the large-scale loss of innocent life, but also in the devastating effects it has wrought, both on society and the progression and well-being of mankind generally. It is due in no small part to Christianity that the world is in the state it is today. This is due to the consistent suppression over the centuries of the truths, realities and ultimate nature and destiny of human beings, and of the true path and meaning of life, a suppression still continuing today in the interests of maintaining the perceived status of the Christian religion.

If mankind had over the last two millennia full and unrestricted access to the same truths and realities that have been known and taught since time immemorial, then the course of mankind would have been very different indeed. If instead of merely accepting without question the official creed and dogma of the orthodox church, contrived over the centuries, which broadly states that providing a person accepts Jesus as their saviour, worships the Christian concept of God and accepts the official dogma of the church, they will be saved and go to heaven, mankind had instead followed the true Divine path, the path of individual progression and evolution on the great ascent back to the true God, The One, everything that Is, the atrocities we witness around the world today, together with the gross materialism continuing to blight mankind, would never have occurred.

These words will doubtlessly come as a shock to many people, but to those people I would only ask this: how can anything with such extremely doubtful origins and violent history as Christianity ever possibly be taken seriously, and a basis upon which mankind should live and determine its future? How can Christianity even call itself a religion when at the final analysis it is nothing more than superstition built upon myth, legend and fable, as well as the customs, beliefs and traditions taken from existing ancient religions which it sought to suppress and replace?

Everyone should with a totally open mind take the time to investigate the true origins and history of Christianity for themselves and ask these very same questions. To anyone sincere and open-minded, the truth should become very readily apparent. When the truth does become apparent as is increasingly happening today, it is never too late for each and every person to re-discover the truth, and to accordingly follow their own true path leading back to God. Such discoverers and followers of the truth will rediscover peace, harmony and happiness, accompanying the certain realisation that every single person without exception is an equal son or daughter of God, an equal aspect of God to Whom it is the most sacred destiny to return one day as a perfected individual, a God-person.

[Palehorse]

I've copied this whole thing into MS Word and I'm going to address it about five pages at a time (it's 10 total).  

First of all, I think you initially present some good reasons why modern, mainline Christianity isn't the most spiritually healthy thing on earth, and I'd agree there.  What you and so many fail to realize though, is that Jesus himself cannot be faulted for the shape his movement has taken, as much of it happened in blatant contradiction to his most basic teachings.  As far as I can tell it took about a full century before those seeds of corruption began to sprout, and even then, it didn't fully take effect for three more, until the religio-political marriage between proto-orthodox Christianity and the Roman Empire in the 4th century.  In other words, if you have a problem with Christianity, then take it up with the Roman Empire and the fruit of its former dominance, not with Jesus.

My second major concern is that you make a lot of claims without citing any sources, and some of them I know to be false just off the top of my head.  So, getting into the text:

These are some of the reasons together with rampant materialism and an uncontrolled ego why mankind has failed for the most part to achieve true progress, peace, harmony and happiness, and why there is still so much suffering on this planet rather than being, as it should be, "the kingdom of heaven on Earth".

This is exactly what Jesus was attempting to show people 2000 years ago.  As we all know, he wasn't exactly well received.

There is absolutely no tangible evidence whatsoever that the bible itself, any of the "books" from which it is constituted, or indeed any the people who supposedly wrote those books ever actually existed.

Yes, there actually is archaeological and historical evidence to corroborate much of what is said in the Bible.  No the record is not anywhere near complete, but it is about what you'd expect after several thousand years.

During the time Jesus was believed to have lived, there is considerable evidence to suggest he was a member of a Spiritual order known as the Essenes,

What evidence might that be?

Further, many of the ethical teachings of the Essenes can be traced directly back to the origins of Buddhism which originated around five hundred years before Jesus was born.

Any evidence for any interaction that may have taken place between Essenes and Buddhists?

Currently available evidence suggests Jesus spent much of his life, thirty years or so, with the Essene order,

Do share.

Many of the philosophies, teachings and healing services of Buddhism were, and still are today, remarkably similar to those of the Essenes. The Jewish Talmud, which pre-dates the time of Jesus, also refers to parables of "The marriage feast", the "Labourers in the vineyard" and the "Pearl of great price".

The fact that Jesus' teachings echo other Jewish Rabbis shouldn't be surprising, since Jesus was, himself, a religious Jew.  

What Christians came to refer to as the "last supper" was in fact a long standing Essene tradition which was observed before a brother of the Essene order was to embark on a long journey or mission.

Actually it was a Passover Seder.

The origin of this simple ceremony can in turn be traced to Mithraism, the worship of the god Mithra, which was still highly prevalent at the time of Jesus.

No, it's traceable to the Passover holiday, which is based on the tradition of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt.  It predates Mithraism by quite a few centuries.

There is considerable evidence that Mithraism profoundly influenced the basis and the origins of the Christian religion,

No there isn't.  
http://tektonics.org/copycat/mithra.html

The god Mithra was still very important to the people of the region at the time of Jesus and for centuries afterwards, and there is no way the people could or would simply set this aside.

Actually, Mithraism was simply one of many mystery religious that were prevalent at the time, such as the cults of Isis, Dionysus, etc.  The statement is fallacious because "the region" encompasses everything from N Africa up through Italy and back down to Syria.  As such, it covers a vast diversity of people and religions.

The resemblance between Buddhism and early Christianity is so profound,

I'll grant that they both place a strong emphasis on compassion, but that's about as far as it goes IMO.  Their beginnings, theology and ultimate goals are all completely different.

Such anointments were by no means unique or even uncommon: there were numerous other "anointed ones" or "Christ's" at the time, this being a popular tradition of the area. At the time of Jesus there were also many teachers and healers, members of the Essenes and other orders, who were all equally regarded as "messiah's".

Christ was indeed the Greek word for "anointed one," but the Jewish messiah, or moshiach, is more specific.

It was Jesus however who, due to circumstance it seems, happened to be in the right place at the right time, and hence came to be known as "The Messiah". It was Paul who is believed to have elevated Jesus to this level,

Believed by whom?  Jesus is called the messiah in texts that were produced independently of anything Paul wrote.

and Paul himself was by all accounts influenced by the ancient religions of Egypt and Greece, and in particular by the Egyptian god Osiris and the Greek god Dionysus.

...And what accounts might those be?  Paul was raised a Pharisee, and would probably either laugh or cry if you told him he was influenced by Greek or Egyptian Paganism.

It was not until twelve hundred years later in the year 1611 the book, after countless amendments, even began to resemble the bible in the form it is known today.

I assume you're referring to the King James Bible.  This is simply a translation that was produced in order to have an English Bible.  The translation itself admittedly isn't the greatest, but it didn't make any serious changes to the books or the text as we know them.  And even if it did, we would still have much older manuscripts available with which to compare.

In order to formally endorse this contrived official status of Jesus, over two thousand representatives gathered in Nicaea, consisting of members of the very early Christian church and also of paganism, notably the followers of the dominant Mithraic religion. As a result of this diverse assembly, numerous resolutions were placed before Emperor Constantine, who in turn subsequently burned them all, apparently to prevent the contents therein from becoming common knowledge.

Source?  Suffice to say that this is quite different from any account of the council I've read, whether Christian or secular.

One hundred and fifty years later in the year 680 CE, a further meeting of monks was ordered to decide how Jesus was to have died. As a result it was decided Jesus was to have died on a cross.

Erm... where exactly are you getting this?  The idea of Jesus having died on a cross is much older than 680.  If you won't take the canonical Bible as evidence, I have a whole lot of writings from early Church figures (both orthodox and not) as well as scriptures not endorsed by Constantine's church that all say the same thing.

It was also around this time the truth of reincarnation was removed from the official church doctrines

Source?  Reincarnation was never official doctrine.  It *was* held as a possibility by various Christians in the diversity of the 1st-2nd centuries (most notably I think Origen's beliefs allow for it even if it's not explicitly stated to my knowledge), but was sort of ruled out as various creeds were written.  

and replaced instead with the doctrines of "heaven" and "hell". These conceptsmade it much easier for the officials of the church to control their congregations by literally scaring people into believing they would go to "hell and damnation for all eternity" at the pleasure of "satan", if they did not believe, accept and conform to the official teachings of the church and accept Jesus as their saviour.

Agreed, but a good case can be made that the concept of eternal hell was imported from Pagan sources.  Anyway, almost from the very beginning, there have been three schools of Christian thought on punishment in the afterlife: eternal torment, universal reconciliation and annihilation.

Emperor Constantine, a vicious tyrant who apparently murdered his own wife, son and nephew, created the Christian religion for purposes know only unto himself.

Not quite.  Christianity thrived for four centuries before Constantine ever showed up on the scene.  There's no reason to believe it needed his help to keep growing and flourishing, and IMO it would have been much better off without him.

To be continued...

[Adrian]

Hello Palehorse,

Thank you very much for your responses. I don't intend to respond to them in detail, for the simple reason that I simply just don't have the time

Suffice it to say that my sources have been well researched and unless I believed them to be accurate I would not have included them.

You are very welcome however to offer any alternative views as you are doing already, and let people decide for themselves. That is exactly why I posted it. If it encourages people to do their own research, then its purpose will have been fulfilled. My only advice in this regards is to keep clear of sources that exist to promote christianity as being biased.

I do agree with you that the person known as Jesus never intended to be the subject of a dogmatic religion, and that his teachings, which were put forward in highly symbolic terms, were never meant to be taken literally, in other words in material terms. I also believe that the person known was Jesus was a highly evolved Master who came here to alter the destructive course of mankind. To that end I am sure he would not have approved of 25 million or so people being slaughtered in his name.

The fact still remains that there is no evidence whatsoever that the bible ever actually existed.  Apart from possibly a few tiny fragments there is no physical evidence whatsoever; it is all hearsay.

That site you quote in the context of Mithraism is a rebuttal by christians. The fact is, Mithraism predated christianity and was the major influence at the time the bible was being contrived, and an alternative religion to control the masses was constructed.

Thank you for your participation in this topic.

Best regards,

Adrian.

[Palehorse]

Suffice it to say that my sources have been well researched and unless I believed them to be accurate I would not have included them.

Then I assume they'll be included in a bibliography in this book you're writing...?  Otherwise, one can't exactly expect to make claims that fly in the face of things most people take for granted, and just expect us all to take your word for it.

My only advice in this regards is to keep clear of sources that exist to promote christianity as being biased.

Most of what I had to say comes from scholarly sources... some written by Christians, some not.  But it's all peer-reviewed and whatnot, so I don't really think it should matter.

The fact still remains that there is no evidence whatsoever that the bible ever actually existed. Apart from possibly a few tiny fragments there is no physical evidence whatsoever; it is all hearsay.

I'm not quite clear on what you mean here... do you mean that the Bible as we have it today didn't exist at the time of Jesus?  Well, on that you'd technically be right.  The Old Testament was written over the course of about 5000 years IIRC, but the Jewish canon was pretty much universal a few centuries before Jesus' time.  The books of the New Testament was all written between the mid 1st to early 2nd century.  There was a generally accepted canon by the late 2nd-3rd century, and it finally became official in the 4th.  The only significant changes that have been made since then have been the removal of the apocrypha by Martin Luther, resulting in the Protestant Bible.  This is all a matter of scholarly consensus.

That site you quote in the context of Mithraism is a rebuttal by christians.

I realize that, but I also think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone other than Christians putting serious effort into debunking the supposed Mithra connection.  However, just because an essay happens to be written by a Christian defending Christianity does not mean it doesn't have a lot of valid things to say.  I wouldn't have posted it if it didn't appear to be well researched... this guy appears to have done his homework and deconstructed the opposing argument the same way any respectable scholar would.

Anyway, I'll get to the other half sometime soon, but if you don't plan on responding to what I have to say, then I'm in no rush, heh.

[Adrian]

Hello Palehorse,

Thank you for your reply.

This chapter will not be in my book; I have removed it because it is a controversial subject, and one which many people believe deeply in. People have to learn from the truth, not from the negative perspective of disproving what they currently believe. The truth will always prevail.

The person who wrote the article you quoted on Mithraism is a christian, and he will have approached his research and conclusions on that basis. While he still believes in christianity, his work will always be a reflection of that. He approached it as a rebuttal, not a review of the facts.

I am not discussing this not because I am not sure whether it is true or not, but because people should read all discussions and decide for themselves.

Best regards,

Adrian.

[LittlePenguin]

Dear Adrian
I have always observed you as being quite fair in your assessments and additions to various discussions, and in the light of that I would say that I find it rather out of character for you to reply in such a biased way. Whether you are right in your assumptions and no matter if the points you bring out in your essay are correct or not, I find that it is important that you yourself realize they are as such so far unsubstantiated.

I find it rather confusing that you at one hand doubt the validity of Christian research, claiming it to be biased, yet at the same time refusing to divulge the material based on which you draw your own conclusions. I would like to ask you to clarify this stance, as it seems to me very confusing, and if insisted on quite hypocritical. Stating that you simply do not have time, is disheartening. If you have time to write and post at such length yet not to complete your very interesting article with the proper Bibliography and literature, I will have to deem it only once again someones unsubstantiated theory.

I am at the moment very emotionally connected to this subject and am looking for the truth, not someones belief or fancy full ideas, be they Christian or Buddhist or otherwise.

Thanks for the time

[Adrian]

Hello Little Penguin,

Thank you for your reply.

I understand what you are saying entirely, and I can assure you that I thought long and hard before posting this essay. What I write is the result of considerable research from many sources. However, at the final analysis, there is no absolute proof one way or the other and from that perspective there is not much to discuss.

I should clarify that when I said that I do not have the time, I only meant it in the context of having to go though each piece of evidence for each individual aspect of the essay which would indeed be very time consuming.

Spiritual matters in general have an extremely wide agreement across many cultures and across many thousands of years, right up to and including quantum physics. The same cannot be said about the origins of christianity for the same reason that the origins of christianity itself is so unproven, coupled with the fact that over the centuries it has been distorted out of all recognition.

What I write then is what I believe to be accurate, but I cannot prove it across the same number of sources as Spiritual issues generally, and that is another reason I chose to withdraw it from my book.

I will modify my opening statement to reflect this, but please just accept my essay for what it is worth to you, and of course you are very free to put forward any counter discussions that you deem appropriate.

Best regards,

Adrian.

[laiana]

Hi Adrian,

Thank you very much for posting that essay - as it certainly has given me some more things to consider and research and learn for myself

[LittlePenguin]

Dear Adrian
Thank you, I think I understand and certainly find it fair that you indeed did withdraw this essay from any book you are writing. From what I remember this very question was discussed once upon the very beginning of the AP, in a long forgotten thread, and indeed the reason the Christian forums were opened. As far as I remember Beth was at that time asked to moderate, which she did very well. The thread was a hot potato, and brought some very sharp remarks from many Robert as well. "Satan deceives you" as the name of the thread read, was as I recall finally closed as the subject died a natural death.

I have since then made an attempt to research this very issue myself and though I cannot say my research is in any way conclusive, I have come to realize that Christianity and the truth it contains in the Bible may indeed be a whole more complex than I at first assumed, and God may indeed be a whole lot bigger than I ever thought   . To some this may appear silly or even smack of heresy, so be it, but to me this was a revelation of sorts.

I have however asserted from my research reading Origin, Josephus Flavious, and many others that the truth is very difficult to determine, as each view and indeed each person involved in the actual history through writings direct or indirectly all seem to have had their own agenda, and could indeed be deemed predisposed or subjective.

In the light of that, it seems wise to say, as you did, that

"this is my opinion, in the light of my research and the sources I choose to believe as true, but it is only my belief, and not unquestionable".

I might add that I really do not know what to believe on the subject and have come to the conclusion that maybe it does not matter all that much, I have no bone to pick with either side.

Thanks for all you do on the site and your always appreciated opinions.

Regards LittleP

[Adrian]

Hello Little Penguin,

I absolutely agree. Everything else in my forthcoming book, which is a large volume, can be substantiated by virtue of broad agreement from multiple seperate and unbiased sources, but the origins of christianity are so vague, so steeped in dogma, and above all so manipulated by various controlling powers over the centuries that no one really knows for sure. That is one reason I withdrew it, another being the principle that people simply have to rise above the creed, dogma and indoctrination of the centuries and see the truth that they can follow the true path back to God.

The truth is far more glorious than anything portrayed by any dogmatic religion. If there is one truth that even the bible would agree with it is that we are all "made in the image of God". The "image" is not of course a personified image, but rather a Spiritual image. We are all individual aspects of God, existing within the mind of God at varying stages of evolution to Whom it is the destiny of each and everyone of us to one day return.

The fact is however while people are still engaged in cycle after cycle of creed, dogma and gross materialism they will not make any true progress, always transitioning back and forth between the Astral and physical worlds until the truth eventually dawns.

Thank you for your interest.

Best regards,

Adrian.

[laiana]

Adrian - I would be interested in finding more out about your book once you release it.

[Adrian]

Hello laiana,

Adrian - I would be interested in finding more out about your book once you release it.

Thank you very much for your interest  

I will announce it's availaibility. It will be released as an e-book initially so I can publish without delay. The book is getting on for 200,000 words which is equivalent to a paperback of between 600 to 750 pages.

I hope to release it on my new site during the first quarter of 2005.

Best regards,

Adrian.