The History of Christianity as seen by a non-partisan

The Qumran caves were always a subterfuge for those trying to protect their heritage from the exploits of Greco-Roman occupation. So far 11 caves have been discovered to contain the scriptural Zeitgeist of this folk sealed up in various clay jars. Scrolls have also been recovered from the walls of their last stronghold in Masada, completing a history of at least three thousand years.

As far as Judaism is concerned, the Torah is essentially the five books of Moses. These histories revolve around the Babylonian exile and the struggle of the Israelites to be reunited as a nation of their own cultural heritage and law. However, this is also where fundamentalism descends into Zionism, when according to the original legend, Adam was not created of the earth from one place, but of the earth in general. Nonetheless, these early legends have been accounted for in the Dead Sea Scrolls with relative consistency until Alexander's conquest in 332 BCE. Texts following this period are predominantly written in ancient Greek with the obvious Ptolemaic and Seleucid influences, thus regarded as sectarian. This also includes those Aramaic texts mentioned by the Flavian elected high priest Josephus. They mark a period of civil unrest against a corrupt priesthood under Roman rule until the end of the Bar Kokhba uprisings in 136 CE. Typically, he blames much of Judea's misery on petty fanatics out to undermine the aristocracy, hence sees the Roman occupation as due retribution for having lost sight of the “prophecy”. He too would have liked to be seen as a messianic prophet of a new biblical age, but as an opportunist of the Roman regime, he was heeded as anything but. Rather, it was Greco-Roman scholars that latched onto his observations of what came to be regarded as a Christian movement. The problem of its veracity is that none of his original works can be found, and despite being quoted by various 3rd century scholars, copies date no earlier than the 11th century. On the other hand, what came to be interpreted as the New Testament were secular aspirations among so many others of the period and not necessarily representative of Essene practices. The Essenes were a sect that kept quite to themselves, far removed from public, let alone political involvements with other factions. Above all, the original prophecy defines the Messiah as an ordinary human born of Jewish patrilineage, and is traditionally ordained (anointed) as a leader who:

1. Builds the third temple(Ezekiel 37:26-28)

2. Gathers all the Jews back to the land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6)

3. Brings universal peace “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)

4. Brings universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "God will be King over all the world—on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9).

What is meant by a false prophet is any attempt to change the original prophecy and its historical accounts, hence Judaism rejects the sectarian New Testament as impertinent to their cause.

The Old Testament says nothing of miracle working or rising from the dead being a messianic prerequisite. Simply because Moses performed miracles, did not necessarily make him a Messiah. Leading the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity was a miserable task fraught with dissent at every turn. Their generations had become too accustomed to the Egyptian way of life, expecting much the same wizardry from Moses, as demonstrated by its priests and god-kings. However, raised as the prodigal son of the Pharaoh, he knew all the parlor tricks. Even the Ark of Covenant bears an uncanny resemblance to Egyptian altar designs. Just the same, it is only typical that his following would resort to idolizing a golden calf to appeal their limited food supply. The blood bath that ensued to lay down the law, doesn't seem to stop until Moses dies upon finally seeing the “promised land” and that after 40 years of this drudgery.

Judaic beliefs are otherwise deeply rooted in the idea that divine intervention in the mortal world is more one of visionary experience than actual physical interaction, however this does not regard the physical as something rife with debauchery. Rather, like in Buddhism, ritual fasting and abstinence serves the purpose of achieving visionary focus. This is also known to involve mandala like formulas and geomantic layouts. Judaism rejects the idea of virgin birth because they see the divine as incorporeal, integral, eternal, above time and beyond space. To say god assumes human form is a diminution of divinity. Even the name Yahweh is unspeakable in that regard. Thus the Christian trinity of father, son and holy ghost can also only seem idolatry, say nothing of the countless saints or missionaries to deliver one's prayers. Rather, such ideas of gods breeding with mortals to make them their messengers are clearly Greco-Roman. This is what is really meant by the taboo “you shall have no gods before me” whereas conversely, Jesus is quoted as saying "No man cometh unto the Father but by me." In essence, Christianity seems so great a departure from its Hebraic roots that skeptics suspect its sources originated with the Mithraic mysteries; a Roman assimilation fashioned on the premise of ancient Persia being the root of all higher civilization. In fact, this ideology still doggedly persists in most western academic circles, despite all obvious fallacies raised by scientific evidence.

Now having said this, doesn't mean I side with either. Nor does having been raised non-denominational by atheistic parents compel me to religion bashing, let alone clinical views of human spirituality. To me it's more an observation of how spirituality based on ideals rather than real life experience is just a carrot on a stick. It has no regard for the individual's own sense of direction. Thus I find it wiser to trust my own instincts, than be misled by somebody else's promises of utopia.

I see much the same fallacy in Rosicrucianism and its spin offs such as the OGD, Thelema, and Wicca: much of their “magical ritual” a rip off of John Dee's Enochian styled Kabbalism and a whole hodge-podge of other assimilated Middle Eastern mysticisms to the tune of Mithras...and all that to justify the mysterious existence of some ancient secret witchcraft tradition? Is it not enough to simply be born with certain psychic talents? Does it have to have a profound connection to some all seeing/all knowing born and bred over generations by some supernatural master race in human disguise? It only makes me wonder what sort of megalomania motivates such outlandish compensations, or maybe they're really just sexually frustrated.

http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/jewsandjesus/
http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/introduction