Introduction to the Subject

    This is a critical evaluation of biblical facts, intended for believers and non-believers.

      Andrew Benson explains in his book how the Judaic beliefs originated and evolved into the Christian beliefs (timeline: from 2000 BCE to 400 CE). He uses the historical and rational approach (not the devotional approach). In the past eighteen years, the author studied numerous ancient writings, in addition to the writings of hundreds of scholars. He published the results of his research in the book titled The Origins of Christianity and the Bible.

This is a unique research. There is no book like this in the market.

  To read brief samples from the book, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the appropriate links.

Note: Words or phrases enclosed in curly braces { } within citations are the author’s explanatory notes, which explain terms or ideas that appear in those citations. Words and phrases within square brackets [ ] within citations were placed by the source of the citation.

The following short essays will give you an idea of the subjects which Andrew Benson chose to examine.

Did Jesus Exist?

The Reason Ancient Authors Did not Write about Jesus

            The book of Acts claims that when Jesus ascended to Heaven he had about 120 followers in Jerusalem: “In those days Peter stood up among the believers (together the crowd numbered about one hundred twenty persons) …” (Acts 1:15 NRSV) Then, according to Acts, Jesus’ followers began to multiply. One day, 3,000 believers joined the movement: “… that day about three thousand persons were added {to the church}.” (Acts 2:41 NRSV) In another occasion, about 5,000 believers, allegedly, joined the movement: “… many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.” (Acts 4:4 NRSV) Even more people joined in a subsequent occasion: “Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women …” (Acts 5:14 NRSV) “More than ever believers were added” means more than 5,000 (the number reported in Acts 4:4). More than 13,000 people joined the movement of 120 believers. Are these claims realistic? In 35 CE, when the alleged conversions took place, the population of Jerusalem was roughly between 35,000 to 45,000 (including children). Is it possible that one third to one half of Jerusalem’s adult population had been converted to Hellenistic Christianity? This claim is inconsistent with the following historical records.
    At about 59-60 CE, Porcius Festus, the Roman governor of Judea (he ruled from 59 to 62 CE), and Agrippa II, the king of Judea (49 to 75 CE), gathered with the religious leaders of Jerusalem to listen to Paul. The author of Acts wrote, “... King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus. Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying ... they {the Jews} had certain points of disagreement with him {Paul} about their own religion and about someone called Jesus, who had died {Gr. περί τινος Ἰησοῦ τεθνηκότος}, but whom Paul asserted to be alive.” (Acts 25:13-14, 19 Transl. by the author)  Festus’ expression “about someone called Jesus, who had died” suggests that he did not know who Jesus was. Festus said this to King Agrippa and Agrippa did not indicate to Festus that he knew anything about Jesus. Then, King Agrippa heard Paul’s preaching about Jesus and did not tell Paul that he knew of Jesus. This suggests that Agrippa did not know who Jesus was. Had Jesus been famous or, had more than a handful of Judeans been his followers, Felix and King Agrippa would have known of him. The gospels claim that Jesus taught frequently at the Temple. “Jesus answered, ‘ I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.' ” (John 18:20 NRSV) King Agrippa procured the building materials for refurbishing the Temple. He was the superintendent of the Temple and he appointed several high priests. Paul told King Agrippa, “... because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews; therefore I beg of you to listen to me patiently.” (Acts 26:3, NRSV) At about 35 CE Jesus was part of “the controversies of the Jews” in Jerusalem, yet at about 59 CE King Agrippa did not know who Jesus was and did not know about the, allegedly, great numbers of Jesus’ followers at the Temple. King Agrippa used to sit in the dining area of his palace, high on a hill, from where he observed the sacrifices and the activities outside the Temple and in the area of Solomon’s Portico. The author of Acts wrote, “And they {Jesus’ followers} were all together in Solomon’s Portico …. the people held them in high esteem.” (Acts 5:12-13 NRSV)  Had Christians held meetings in Solomon’s Portico, Agrippa would surely have known about it. Agrippa had at his disposal the Herodians: informants, who kept him abreast of civil and religious affairs. Matthew wrote that Agrippa’s grandfather, Herod the Great, killed all the babies in Bethlehem, so as to exterminate baby Jesus. Had this story been true King Agrippa would have known who Jesus was. Had the claims of the gospel writers, that thousands of people listened to Jesus’ sermons, been true, King Agrippa would have known about Jesus. Had the story of the author of Acts, that more than 13,120 believers worshipped Jesus in Jerusalem, in 35 CE, been true, King Agrippa would have known who Jesus was. Had so many people been worshipping Jesus in Jerusalem, and had they spread their religion in Judea and had their numbers multiplied, even Festus would have known about them and about Jesus.  This raises the question: did Jesus exist?
       Here are more facts, which cast doubts on Jesus’ historicity. Josephus wrote the history of Israel and he described in detail the events that took place in Jerusalem before, during, and after Jesus’ lifetime. He gathered his information from other Jews. He had access to information because, in 55 CE, twenty years after Jesus’ death, he was a governor of Galilee. [1] Had the events described in Acts been historically true (that more than 13,120 people in Jerusalem were Jesus’ followers) Josephus would have written a detailed story about Jesus and his followers. He wrote, “Now at this time my abode was in a village of Galilee, which is named Cana.” [2] Cana was where Jesus, allegedly, performed his first miracle: turned the water into wine, at a wedding. Josephus  wrote The Antiquities of the Jews at about 93-95 CE. In that book he wrote, “… Jesus, who was called Christ.” [3] He wrote that book in Rome. Perhaps by that time Jesus’ reputation reached Rome. Thus, Josephus heard of him. However, all the biblical claims that Jesus was famous in Palestine during his lifetime are mere legends: “This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.” (Luke 7:17 NIV) “King Herod {Antipas} heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known.” (Mark 6:14 NIV) “And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country.” (Mathew 14:35 NIV) This was not true.
    Professor Bart D. Ehrman wrote, “ ... what do the Greek and Roman sources from his {Jesus’} own day through the end of the century (say, the year 100) have to say about him? .... We have a lot of Greek and Roman sources from the period: religious scholars, historians, philosophers, poets, natural scientists; we have thousands of private letters; we have inscriptions placed on buildings in public places. In no first-century Greek or Roman (pagan) source is Jesus mentioned.” [4]

            In Jerusalem all sects which obeyed the Law were tolerated. Professor Lawrence Schiffman wrote, “It is now becoming increasingly clear that the {Dead Sea} Scrolls are the primary source of study of Judaism in all its varieties in the last centuries before the Common Era. In short, this corpus ... has an enormous amount to tell us about the widely varying Judaisms of the Hasmonean and Herodian periods {late 1st century BCE to 1stcentury CE} ...” [4] That the Dead Sea scrolls have “an enormous amount to tell us about the widely varying Judaisms” during the Herodian periods and have nothing to tell us about the belief that Jesus is God, or Jesus is “a god,” or Jesus is the Archangel, means that Hellenistic Christianity did not exist in Jerusalem. Not one manuscript of Jesus’ story was found in the treasure troves of the Qumran caves. Not one letter of Paul was found in the Dead Sea scrolls. That no part of the New Testament was found among the Dead Sea scrolls means that Hellenistic Christianity was not part of the religious potpourri of Jerusalem.

Jesus Did Not Know All Things!

 (Note: Words and phrases within large braces { } within biblical quotations are furnished by the author to explain such quotations.)     

     The Bible says that God is omniscient. The author of the Gospel of John wrote, “... God … knows all things.” (1 John 3:20 KJV) But the following verse indicates Jesus was not omniscient because he did not know which seed is the smallest. He said, “... a grain of mustard seed ... is the smallest of all seeds ...” (Matthew 13:31-32 KJV) Mustard seeds are about 2.5 mm (1/10 inch) in diameter (see pictures below).  Jesus did not know, that  poppy seeds and strawberry seeds are much smaller than mustard seeds. Look at the pictures below and compare.

The above pictures show the two varieties of mustard seed: brown and white.

Compare the size of the mustard seeds in the above picture, to the size of the poppy seeds and strawberry seeds in the pictures below:

Mustard seeds are several times larger than poppy seeds (poppy seeds are less than 1 mm in size) and strawberry seeds. Also, mustard seeds are many times larger than orchid seeds, which are the smallest of all seeds. [1]
       The editors of the NIV Study Bible are aware of Jesus' blunder. To conceal the blunder, they altered the wording of this verse in their version: “Though it is the smallest of all your seeds ...” (Matthew 13:32 NIV) They added the word “your.” This word does not exist in the Greek text. (This is one of numerous instances, where translators altered the biblical text to eliminate blunders.)
    Mark wrote that Jesus saw a fig tree at a distance and he walked up to it, to see if it had fruit: “He {Jesus} became hungry. And seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And He ... said to it, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again!’ ” (Mark 11:12-14 NASB) Jesus expected to find figs on the tree. He did not know that the tree had no figs. Furthermore, he did not know or did not think that “it was not the season for figs.” And worst of all, he cursed the tree to not bear fruit again.. Anyone who curses a tree cannot be the creator of trees.
      He who knows all things, does not ask questions. But Jesus asked questions. He wanted to know where the body of the deceased Lazarus had been placed: “He {Jesus} said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ ” (John 11:34 NRSV) Jesus asked the following questions: “What is it you want?” (Matthew 20:21 NIV) “Have you understood all these things?” (Matthew 13:51 NIV) “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” (Matthew 9:28 NIV)  “And he {Jesus} asked them, How many loaves {of bread} have you? And they said, Seven.” (Matthew 15:34 KJV) At one time, two disciples followed Jesus and he did not know what they wanted: “When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ ” (John 1:38 NRSV) He who does not know, asks questions.
  The author of Hebrews compared Jesus to angels: “Having become as much better than the angels, as he {Jesus} has inherited a more excellent name than they.” (Hebrews 1:4 NASB) The expressions “much better than” and “more excellent” suggest that Jesus is comparable to angels. In contrast, the Old Testament says that God is incomparable: “For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly beings is like the Lord {?}” (Psalm 89:6 NRSV) The obvious answer is, “No one.” This verse indicates that God is not comparable to Jesus. He is that much greater than Jesus. Likewise for the next verse. God asks, “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, as though we were alike?" (Isaiah 46:5 NRSV) God is beyond compare.
     Jesus told his disciples, “But of that day and that hour no man knows, no, not the angels who are in heaven, neither the Son {:me}, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32 KJV) He admitted that he did not know “that day and that hour.” Also, Jesus did not know if the blind man “saw anything”: “... when he {Jesus} had spit on his eyes, and put his hand upon him, he asked him if he saw anything.” (Mark 8:23 KJV) He did not know what the teachers of the Law were arguing about: “... the teachers of the law {were} arguing with them. As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they ... ran to greet him. ‘What are you arguing with them about?’ he {Jesus} asked.” (Mark 9:14-16 NIV) “Jesus asked the boy’s father, ‘How long has he {the boy} been like this?’ From childhood he {the father} answered.” (Mark 9:21 NIV) [2] Had Jesus known the answers to his questions and pretended not to know them he would have been insincere. In other words, he would have been a dishonest person.
        In the following instance, Jesus asked God a question “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34 KJV) Jesus could not have pretended not to know. Since, according to the Bible, God knows the hearts of people, no one can fool God through false pretenses. Jesus’ question to God was sincere. Jesus was sincere in all the above instances, where he asked questions. We have no reason to doubt the sincerity of Jesus, except for one occasion where he told a lie to his brothers. Here it is: “So his brothers said to him, ‘Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things {miracles}, show yourself to the world.’ … Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come … ... I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.’ After saying this, he remained in Galilee. But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went ... ” (John 7:3-11 NRSV) Jesus told his brothers “I am not going to this festival” but “then he also went.” Jesus told them one thing, but did another. He lied to his brothers because he was not able to accomplish his goal by speaking the truth. [3] That he was not able to accomplish his goal by speaking the truth, is evidence  that he was not omnipotent. He was not God. (God has no need to lie, because he is omnipotent; he can accomplish anything he wants, without the help of a lie.)
    In the following instance Jesus prayed to God and explained to him the reason he had said something to a crowd: “... And Jesus looked upward and said, ‘Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.’ ” (John 11:41-42 NRSV) Had Jesus been God, he would not have prayed, because God does not pray. God does not pray because there is no one greater to whom he can pray to. That Jesus prayed to God is an indication that God is greater that him. Notice that Jesus tried to explain to God the reason he had said something: “but I have said this for the sake of the crowd.” This phrase shows that Jesus failed to understand the concept of omniscience: “infinite knowledge.” According to the Bible, God has infinite knowledge. Therefore, God needed no explanation from Jesus. [4] This, too, is evidence that Jesus had a finite mind. (This argument, of course, is based on the presumption that the above account is historical.)
    God talked to Jesus: “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ ” (Mark 1:11 NRSV) Had Jesus been omniscient, God would not have talked to him. Talking is necessary when there is a need to convey information. Since an omniscient being knows everything, there is no need to talk or to pray to such a being. Two omniscient beings never have to talk to each other, because they know each other’s thoughts. Thinking is a process of engaging the mind to form and to process thoughts, so as to reach conclusions and thus, make decisions. Omniscient beings don’t use the process of thinking because they already know the "conclusion."

 Read the Bible and find out for yourself: that Jesus Did Not Bring Salvation and Eternal Life!

Christians believe that Jesus’ death on the cross was sacrificial: “… the Son of Man {= Jesus} came … to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45 NIV) Christians believe that righteousness and salvation are attained through Jesus’ blood (the blood he shed on the cross). Paul wrote, “… now that we have been justified by his {Jesus’} blood, will we be saved …” (Romans 5:9 NRSV) “... Jesus Christ … who ... freed us from our sins by his blood” (Revelation 1:5 NRSV) “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses …” (Ephesians 1:7 NRSV) The “redemption” mentioned in this verse was not viable during Jesus’ lifetime because Jesus had not yet shed his blood. Paul also wrote, “... if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9 NRSV) Such a doctrine could be taught only after Jesus’ death. Therefore, the religion that taught this doctrine (Hellenistic Christianity) came into effect after Jesus’ death. Jesus could not have taught a religion that would come into effect after his death. Jesus did not teach Hellenistic Christianity. He taught Judaism. Here is evidence:

Was Jesus God?

The Short Answer:

   John wrote, “God is spirit { Gr. πνεῦμα ὁ θεός}.” (John 4:24 NRSV) Luke wrote, “... a spirit does not have flesh and bones …” (Luke 24:39 NASB)  God is spirit, and therefore, he does not have flesh and bones. The historical Jesus had flesh; therefore, he could not be God. According to modern Christian doctrine, Jesus ascended to Heaven with his  flesh and bones (with the body which the Romans crucified). Again, since Jesus has flesh and bones, he cannot qualify as God. Also, God cannot be contained in a human body, because he is omnipresent. Paul wrote, “… flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 15:50 NRSV) Jesus’ flesh and blood were perishable,  because, as the following verse says, he was made human in “every way”: “For this reason he {Jesus} had to be made like his brothers in every way…” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV) Omnipresence is an inherent quality of God which he does not divest. God does not undergo any type of transformation. God does not become man. If God changes he will cease being perfect, because perfection does not allow for variation. Finally, since Jesus was locally present, he was not God.

 The Long Answer:

Introduction to the term "god"

        If you check your dictionary you will find that the term "God" (with capital letter "G") is a name that refers to "the supreme being, the all-powerful all-knowing creator of the universe," and that the term "god" (with small letter "g") is a noun that refers to "one of many supernatural male beings." Today we are able to make this distinction because our way of writing allows for it. But the writers of the New Testament were not able to make such distinction because their way of writing did not allow for it. All the letters of the language in which they wrote (the Koine Greek) were the same: capital. Now they had a rather crude way available to them for denoting "God" from "a god" and that was by using the definite article "ὁ." For example,  ὁ θεός   in most instances means "God," and θεός in most instances means "a god." But this is not always true. For example, in the following case ὁ θεὸς  instead of "God," means "Satan": "... the god {Gr. ὁ θεὸς} of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 4:4 NRSV) The qualifier "of" (in the expression "the god of") qualifies the definite article "the" before the noun "god."

    Keep in mind that the New Testament was not written in Attic Greek, which was proper Greek, with proper grammar. It was written  in Koine Greek, a language which was commonly used by foreigners (non-Greeks). Foreigners did not know the grammatical rules, and therefore, they were not consistent with the use of the definite article "ὁ," and thus, sometimes it is difficult to determine their beliefs by the presence of the article "ὁ." Also, unlike the Old Testament writers who used the name "Yahweh" (Jehovah) to identify the Supreme Being, the New Testament writers did not use such a name. They used the generic terms "Lord," "Father," "Almighty," and "God," to refer to God. As a rule, the New Testament writers used the term “Lord” as a name for their God, because their Bible, the Septuagint, says that God's name is “Lord” (“Κυριος”). Here is the verse: “κύριος συντρίβων πολέμους, Κύριος ὄνομα αὐτῷ {the Lord destroys wars. Lord is his name}” (Exodus 15:3 Septuaginta)  This verse says that God's name is "LORD."

         In some instances some New Testament writers used the term "god" to refer to Jesus. Since those writers were not grammatically adept and since they had no choice between capital and small letters, the question arises,  Did they believe Jesus is "God," or "a god"?  In order to answer this question one must understand what the term "god" meant in the ancient times, and especially during the times of Paul. This is a big subject (explained in the book) but, briefly, here are a few examples, which will elucidate the meaning of this term.

         In the ancient times the term "god" meant "spirit" or "angel." Clement of Alexandria wrote, “Aristotle’s disciple, the celebrated Theophrastus of Eresus {born ca. 371 died 286 BCE}, suspects ... that God is spirit.” (Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, cha. V, par. 58.) Clement also wrote, “For the Stoics say that God is spirit by nature.” (Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis, 5, 14.) The writer of the Gospel of John wrote, “God is spirit {Gr. πνεῦμα ὁ θεός}.” (John 4:24 NRSV) Angels were called "gods" or "spirits" because they have the same nature as God: “Are not all angels spirits ...?” (Hebrews 1:14 NRSV) Even Satan was called "a god," because Satan was a fallen angel. Paul used the term "god" to refer to Satan: "... the god {Gr. ὁ θεὸς} of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 4:4 NRSV)

     Here are some examples from the Old Testament where angels are called "gods." Psalm 82 reads, “God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the gods {Heb. elohim}.” (Psalms 82:1 NIV) The "gods" mentioned in this verse are the angels of God. In the following verse God says, “I said You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High.” (Psalms 82:6 NASB)  In other words, God says, "I said you are angels ..."

 To further understand the meaning of the term "god" compare the following two renderings of Psalms 8:5 by two major translations of the Bible (the New American Standard Version and the King James Version):

(The proper rendering of the NASB translation should have been "gods," not "God." Caution: one should not stake his faith on the wording of a translation.)

Here are two  renderings of another verse by two different reputable translations (both renderings are valid):

“For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” (Psalms 97:9 NRSV) In other words, "you are exalted above all spirits" or "you are exalted above all angels."

    According to 1 Peter, after Jesus died, he became a spirit: "He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit ..." (1 Peter 3:18 NRSV) Paul wrote, “... the last Adam {Jesus} became a life-giving spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45 NRSV) According to these and other New Testament verses, Jesus rose as a spirit, and spirits were called "gods." (Notice, some New Testament writers or editors wrote that Jesus rose physically, while others wrote that he rose spiritually. This contradiction is discussed in the book.) The writers who believed that Jesus rose spiritually called him "a god" (because the risen Christ had a spiritual body, an angelic body). There is a big difference between "a god" and "God": "a god" is a noun, whereas "God" is a name. The Christian belief "Jesus is God" is based on interpretation. In the fourth century CE such interpretation caused ecclesiastical controversies, divisions, and feuds. (The history of the ecclesiastical feuds concerning the identity and the position of Jesus is discussed in detail in the book.)

If you find this page beneficial, "spread the word": link it to another web-site or send it to a friend. Click on "File," then  click "Send,   Page by E-mail ..."

The Author of the Gospel of Mark Did not Believe Jesus is God

    Mark believed that Jesus had limited power. He wrote, “{Jesus said,} But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give.” (Mark 10:40 KJV) “He {Jesus} entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice.” (Mark 7:24 NRSV) The expressions “did not want … he could not” reveal that Jesus had limited power. Jesus did not have the power to make himself inconspicuous. He was not omnipotent. Mark would not have written this verse had he believed that Jesus was omnipotent. The same applies to the following instance: “He {Jesus} could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” (Mark 6:5 NIV) Jesus’ power was limited because "he could not do" miracles whenever he wanted. He was not omnipotent. Only God is omnipotent. According to Matthew, God has no limitations [1]: “... but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26 KJV) Also, Mark believed that Jesus had limited knowledge. He wrote, “{Jesus said,} But of that day and that hour no man knows, no, not the angels who are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” (Mark 13:32 KJV) Jesus did not know the day of his return. Only God is omniscient (has unlimited knowledge). Therefore, Mark believed that Jesus is not God.

The Early Church Fathers Did Not Believe Jesus is Equal to God

    The Church Father Tertullian is one out of many early Church Fathers who believed the the Father is greater than the Son. Tertullian was born about 155 or 160 and died 220 to 230 CE. He wrote ca. 213 CE. The following quotation shows that Tertullian believed that God, the Father, was superior to Jesus: “... the Son differs from the Father ... it is not by division that He is different, but by distinction; because the Father is not the same as the Son, since they differ one from the other in the mode of their being. For the Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as He Himself acknowledges: ‘My Father is greater than I.’ In the Psalm {Psalm 7:5} His inferiority is described as being ‘a little lower than the angels.’ Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son, inasmuch as He who begets is one, and He who is begotten is another; He, too, who sends is one, and He who is sent is another; and He, again, who makes is one, and He through whom the thing is made is another.” [1]

  The New Testament writers and all the major, early Christian Church Fathers believed that only the Father is God. How did today's Christians come to believe that Jesus is God? From where did they get such a belief? (Thissubject is discussed in detail in the book.)

What the Church Father Irenaeus Thought of Jesus

     (The view of Irenaeus is particularly important because he was the first Christian Church Father to declare the canon of the New Testament. He officially acknowledged the Gospel of John as one of the legitimate books of Christianity.)
     The Church Father Irenaeus (bishop of Lyons in Gaul, born 140 CE, died ca. 200-202 CE, wrote ca. 180 CE) considered Jesus an “improperly called god.” He taught that before Jesus came on earth he had a separate existence from God and was inferior to God. He wrote, “And again, in his Epistle to the Galatians, he {Paul} says: ... plainly indicating one God, who did by the prophets make promise of the Son, and one Jesus Christ our Lord ...” [1] Irenaeus condemned the heretics who, in his time, worshipped Jesus as a god. He wrote “... the Father Himself is alone called God ... the Scripture acknowledge Him alone God; and yet again the Lord {Jesus} confesses Him alone as His own Father, and knows no other {god}, as I shall show from His very words ... consider the terrible blasphemy [you are guilty of] against Him {against the Father} who truly is God.” [2] He also wrote, “the Lord Himself handing down to His disciples, that He, the Father, is the only God and Lord, who alone is God and ruler of all;” [3] (The view of Irenaeus carries much weight, because he was instrumental in the canonization process of the New Testament books.) Irenaeus also wrote, “Christ and His Apostles, Without Any Fraud, Deception, or Hypocrisy, Preached that One God, the Father, Was the Founder of All Things. … Neither did His disciples make mention of any other God, or term any other Lord, except Him {the Father}, who was truly the God and Lord of all …” ^[4] Irenaeus also wrote, “... if the Lord {Jesus} had known many fathers and gods, He would not have taught His disciples to know [only] one God, and to call Him alone Father? But He {Jesus} did ... distinguish those who by word merely {verbo tenus} are termed gods, from Him who is truly God.” [5] According to Irenaeus, Jesus, “verbo tenus,” that is, by word only, was called “god.” He was called “god” after his death, which, in those days was customary.

            In the following quotation Irenaeus clarifies the doctrine of the mainstream late 2^nd century Christians: “The Church, though dispersed through our the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith: [She believes] in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations of God,” [6]

The Irrationality of the Trinity Doctrine

The author of the Letter of James believed that God remains constant (invariable, never changing): “… the Father {God} … with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17 NRSV) If God is eternally invariable and if God is three persons united into one, then the bond that unites those three persons must be likewise: eternally invariable. But Mark indicated that the bond between the Father and the Son was severed during Jesus’ crucifixion: “… Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ” (Mark 15:34 NRSV) When Jesus said this, there was no Trinity. This verse debunks the claim that God is an eternal union of three persons.
       James indicated that God remains constant (invariable, never changing). But Jesus was not constant. He was confident and strong when he pursued the money changers at the Temple with a whip, but he became weak and melted down before his crucifixion. He told God, “ ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup {the crucifixion} from me; …’ Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.” (Luke 22:42-44 NRSV) These verses debunk the belief that Jesus is God because with God “there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17 NRSV) Jesus became weak, whereas God (according to James) cannot become weak.
    God’s title is “the Father”: “I {God} will be a Father {to the righteous men} and they shall be my sons. And they all shall be called sons of the living God, and every angel and every spirit shall know ... that these are my sons, and that I {God} am their Father ...” (Jubilees 1:24-25) All righteous men are sons of God. No one is “son of Jesus.” Paul wrote to the Galatians, “You are all sons of God ...” (Galatians 3:26 NIV) Jesus was a righteous man, and therefore, he was though to be a son of God. Like the rest of the Jews, Jesus claimed that God is his “Father.” The appellation “Father” is a title of superiority. A father is greater than his son. Jesus said, “My Father ... is greater than all.” (John 10:29 NASB) The word “all” includes Jesus. He also said, “... the Father is greater than I. … I do as the Father has commanded me.” (John 14:28, 31 NRSV) God commanded Jesus. There is no verse in the New Testament stating or hinting that Jesus ever commanded God. Had Jesus been equal to God, he would have called God his “Brother.” He would have said, “… Brother, forgive them as I forgave them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
            Today’s Christians believe that before Jesus incarnated he was a spirit in Heaven; he was “fully God.” When he came down on earth he “incarnated”: he united his spirit with flesh. He acquired a second nature. He added to his spiritual nature the carnal nature and thus from “fully God” he became “fully God and fully man” … (whatever that means!). “He became” means “he changed.” The point is that Jesus was transformed: he changed. Nonetheless, the writer of Hebrews wrote, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 NIV) But God does not change. Malachi says that God does not change: “For I the Lord do not change;” (Malachi 3:6 NRSV) James wrote that God does not change: “… {God} the Father … with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17 NRSV)
   Jesus told John (the one who wrote the book of Revelation), “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! ...” (Revelation 1:17-18 NRSV) Jesus experienced death. He died. The Father revived him. The Father is eternally alive. He is "everlasting."
          Today’s Christians believe that before Jesus incarnated (before he was born by Mary) he was a spirit in Heaven; he was “fully God.” When he came down on earth and “incarnated” his spirit united with flesh.. He acquired a second nature. He added to his spiritual nature the carnal nature and thus from “fully God” he became “fully God and fully man” … (whatever that means). The bottom line is, Jesus changed. He cannot be God, because God does not change. Malachi says, “For I the Lord do not change;” (Malachi 3:6 NRSV) James, too, wrote that God does not change: “… {God} the Father … with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17 NRSV) He who changes is not God.
    Christians claim that Jesus was simultaneously fully human and fully God. This is illogical because the word “fully” excludes additional characteristics. (When a container is “full” you cannot add anything else in it.) The synonyms of “fully” are: completely, entirely, wholly, totally, altogether. If Jesus is “completely” or “entirely” human, he cannot be God.
           Here is the Christian belief in algebraic terms: God + man = Jesus or Jesus = God + man. Another way to express this equation is, God = Jesus – man. (You have to subtract “man” from “Jesus” to end up with “God.” Ironically, these equations show that Jesus is greater than God. He is greater that God because he has more qualities than God. In other words, God lesser than Jesus because he lacks the human qualities of Jesus. ... ... Go figure.)
            Logically speaking, Jesus could not have been a “hybrid” (a fusion of two natures: human and divine) because the human nature would have prompted him to do one thing and the divine nature would have prompted him to do another, and thus he would have been double-minded. The Bible condemns double-mindedness: “ {God says} I hate the double-minded …” (Psalm 119:113 NRSV) “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8 KJV) Divine thinking is unlike mortal thinking. In the Old Testament, God said to mankind, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.” (Isaiah 55:8 NRSV) The thoughts and the ways of man are unlike and even contrary to the thoughts and the ways of God. The thoughts and the ways of man are evil: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5 KJV) The inclinations of God are good, while the inclinations of man are evil. Ecclesiastes wrote, “Follow the inclination of your heart … but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9 NRSV) It is impossible for Jesus’ mind to have had the inclinations of God and the inclinations of man.
            According to Christians, Jesus has a body of flesh, a body which is visible to earthly eyes (the “eyes of the flesh”), whereas, the Father is invisible spirit: he has a spiritual body, which is not visible to the eyes of the flesh; it is visible only through the “eyes of the soul” (this is a Christian expression). So they inadvertently admit that the Son is different from the Father. However, perfection does not allow for variation (only one nature can be perfect). The Father is greater because he has a body which is superior to Jesus’ body. Finally, since the Father and Jesus are dissimilar, they can’t be one. No matter which way we examine the idea of Trinity, we end up with the same result: it is an impossible idea.
            Christians fail to realize that God cannot incarnate into a man because the book of Ecclesiastes says that man is a beast: “So I decided, as regards to men, to dissociate them from the divine beings and to face the fact that they are beasts.” (Ecclesiastes 3:18 TANAKH) God cannot become a beast. The book of Ecclesiastes says that man amounts to nothing: “Man has no superiority over the beast, since both amount to nothing.” (Ecclesiastes 3:19b TANAKH) God cannot become nothing. Paul wrote that man's nature is earthly: “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” (Colossians 3:5 NIV) Earthly nature is sinful nature. “What is man, that he should be clean? and he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?” (Job 15:14 KJV) God cannot incarnate into a man because man’s nature is unclean, inferior, and sinful. Besides, God does not change: “For I the Lord do not change;” (Malachi 3:6 NRSV) If God changes his nature he will cease being perfect, because perfection does not allow for variation. Justin Martyr, the 2^nd century Christian Church Father and leading theologian (ca. 150 CE) wrote, “ ‘But what do you call God?’ said he. ‘{And I answered} That which always maintains the same nature, and in the same manner, and is the cause of all other things--that, indeed, is God.’ ” ^[1] (Justin Martyr did not believe Jesus is God.) Since Jesus added a second nature to his original one, he cannot qualify as God, because God “maintains the same nature and in the same manner.”
            The Mormons recognized this problem, so they attempted to resolve it as follows: Joseph Smith  wrote, “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.” [2] James Talmage, another leading Mormon, wrote, “Therefore we know that both the Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them possesses a tangible body, infinitely pure and perfect . . . a body of flesh and bones.” [3] In trying to solve the problem, the Mormons made it worse. Here is the problem with the Mormon solution: if “the Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men,” they have sexual organs and sex hormones. And if they do have sexual organs and sex hormones, then they have carnal desires: “passions of flesh.” And Paul wrote, “… the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and {therefore} we were by nature children of wrath …” (Ephesians 2:2 NRSV) Since the Father and the Son cannot be “children of wrath,” they cannot have “a body of flesh and bones.” Furthermore, the nature of the flesh is contrary to the nature of spirit. Paul wrote, “For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other …” (Galatians 5:17 NRSV) God cannot have flesh, because “flesh is contrary to the nature of spirit.” Also, a human body does not have an “infinitely pure and perfect” shape (as James Talmage proposed) because it has a limited presence (its presence is limited to a specific location). In order for God to be omniscient (to know everything that is going on everywhere in the universe) he has to be omnipresent. And in order to be omnipresent, he has to be spirit (power). Therefore, perfection exists only in spirit. And since perfection does not allow for variation, God cannot be anything but spirit: a universal power that permeates the universe.
            The Mormons forgot something else: Jesus’ body saw corruption. It was mortally wounded and it decomposed for “three days” in the grave. Since Jesus died, his soul separated from his decomposed body. (Tertullian wrote, “death is defined to be nothing else than the separation of body and soul.” [4]) Jesus cannot be equal to the Father, because his soul separated from his carnal body, and his carnal body changed: it decomposed for three days. On the other hand, the Father’s soul has never separated from his carnal body (the Mormons believe God has such a body), and his carnal body has never decomposed. James wrote that God is invariable: “… {God} the Father … with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17 NRSV) (In other words, the universal power, which permeates the universe, is not subject to change.)
            Let us re-examine the Mormon belief, that the Father and the Son are equal because they both have carnal bodies. If both Father and Son have carnal bodies, does the Holy Spirit have a carnal body too? Luke wrote, “… and the Holy Spirit descended upon him {upon Jesus} in bodily form [5] like a dove {Gr. σωματικῷ εἴδει ὡς περιστερὰν}.” (Luke 3:22 NRSV) The phrase “in bodily form” indicates that the Holy Spirit, too, appeared with a carnal body. The Church Father Tertullian confirms this: “… the Gospel of John ... declares that the Spirit descended in the body of a dove, and sat upon the Lord. When the said Spirit was in this condition, He was as truly a dove as He was also a spirit; nor did He destroy His own proper substance by the assumption of an extraneous substance {: the substance of animal flesh}. But you ask what becomes of the dove’s body, after the return of the Spirit back to heaven ... ?” [6] The Church Father Tertullian raised a valid theological question: what became of the dove’s body, after the Spirit returned to Heaven? Did it discard its body? Does God discard his body? Is the Holy Spirit, today, in the form of a dove, sitting (along with Jesus) at the side of the Father?

Above picture: Greek Orthodox fresco of the Trinity. The Father is painted as a white-bearded old man with a triangular nimbus. The Son is painted as a brown-bearded adult man. (Obviously, the artist believed that there are differences between the Father and the Son.) The Holy Spirit is shown as a white dove with a halo. How do the Trinity members compare? An adult man is in better shape than an old man. And a dove is not equal to an adult man or to an old man. “Two men and a dove” cannot constitute a Trinity with three equal members.
            The Mormons did not take into consideration the following problem: “And the Word became flesh …” (John 1:14 NRSV) This verse implies that before Jesus incarnated, he was a spirit. Therefore, he could not have been equal to the Father because the Father had a carnal body (the Father is eternally invariable). Also before the Holy Spirit incarnated it could not have been equal to the Father, because it was a spirit. The Mormon solution fails to show that Jesus and the Holy Spirit can be equal to the Father, because the Father never changed, while Jesus incarnated into a man, and the Holy Spirit incarnated into a dove..
            Saint Augustine (born 354, died 430 CE) used a different approach. He explained that Jesus is equal to the Father “... according to substance; therefore the substance of both is the same.” He wrote, “… confess the Son Homo’ousios, ‘of one substance with the Father.’ ” [7] But Saint Augustine forgot that the Father has no “substance,” because he is spirit (a soul). Substance is “a kind of matter, a physical reality that can be touched and felt.” God cannot be touched or felt with our hands because he is spirit (: power).
    In order for three persons to be absolutely equal they must be absolutely identical. However, had the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit been absolutely identical they would not have been identifiable. We are able to identify the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit by their differences: different names, different functions, and different ranks. For example, the Father ranks higher because he dispatches the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father ranks higher because he is unapproachable by man, whereas the Son is approachable by man. The Son is the mediator to the Father, but not the mediator to the Holy Spirit. This indicates that the Father is superior to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Also, one can be forgiven for blaspheming the Father or Jesus, but will not be forgiven for blaspheming the Holy Spirit (see Mark 3:28–29). Therefore the Holy Spirit is different from the Father and Jesus. Since God is prefect, then he cannot have three different qualities, because perfection does not allow for variation: “… {God} the Father … with whom there is no variation …” (James 1:17 NRSV) Anything that is different from perfect is imperfect. Jesus is different from the Father. Therefore he is not perfect. The Father is superior because he knows things that Jesus does not know: “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13:32 NRSV) When two persons are different, they are not equal. In some way, one is superior to the other. There is no way of getting around this rule.
    The Trinity without the Holy Spirit is incomplete. Or, the Trinity without the Son is incomplete. Or the Trinity without the Father is incomplete. The fact that it takes three persons to make the Trinity complete, means that each person of the Trinity is incomplete. In other words, the Trinity is greater than any of its members because the sum is greater than its parts.
            People learn in school that 1+1+1= 3. But in Trinitarian churches they are told 1+1+1= 1. How can three distinct persons be one being? Some Christians admit that the "Trinity" does not make sense. M. R. DeHaan, a renowned Christian apologist, wrote, “The Trinity, that is, three persons in one, is a mystery which is revealed in the Bible, but cannot be understood by the human mind. Since man is finite, and God infinite, this is one of those things which must be accepted by faith, even though it cannot be reasoned out. The Trinity cannot be explained, but it must be believed ...” [8] Saint Augustine says that one must believe before he can understand: “… believe and understand, for the Prophet says, ‘Unless ye believe ye shall not understand’ Do ye not comprehend? Be enlarged. Hear the Apostle: ‘Be ye, enlarged, bear not the yoke with unbelievers.’ They who will not believe this before they comprehend {it} are unbelievers. And because they have determined to be unbelievers, they will remain in their ignorance. Let them believe then that they may understand.” [9] Believers are told to submit to the judgment of their spiritual leaders without questioning a doctrine, which their leaders themselves do not understand and cannot explain. And this doctrine was established by shedding the blood of those who questioned it and refused to accept it.
            Christians justify the concept of Trinity by saying that human beings are finite and liable both to sin and err. And for this reason, the finite mind of man cannot understand the concept of Trinity. The reality is, when one believes in things he does not understand, he believes in superstition.

God's Nature Cannot Blend with Man's Nature

 
          Christians claim that Jesus was simultaneously fully human and fully God. Is this possible? Certainly Jesus could not have had a mind with two qualities: human and divine. The human quality would have prompted him to do one thing and the divine quality would have prompted him to do another, and thus he would have been double-minded. The Bible condemns double-mindedness: “I hate the double-minded …” (Psalm 119:113 NRSV) “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8 KJV) In the Old Testament, God said to mankind, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8 NRSV) The thoughts and the ways of man are unlike and even contrary to the thoughts and the ways of God. The thoughts of God are good, whereas the thoughts of man are evil: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5 KJV) Ecclesiastes wrote, “Follow the inclination of your heart … but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9 NRSV) Therefore, the thoughts and the inclinations of God cannot mix with the evil thoughts and inclinations of man. The inclinations of God are good whereas the inclinations of man are evil. It is impossible for Jesus’ mind to have had contrary qualities.

    In what way, then, Jesus was simultaneously human and God? Was he, then, the mind of God clothed with a human body? Is it possible for God's mind to unite with human flesh? Human flesh has natural passions and desires (sex hormones), just like animal flesh. Justin Martyr said, “He pre-existed, and submitted to be born a man of like passions with us, having a body …” (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, cha. 48.) As Justin Martyr explains, Jesus had a beastly flesh. Ecclesiastes explains, “So I decided, as regards to men, to dissociate them from the divine beings and to face the fact that they are beasts. … Man has no superiority over the beast, since both amount to nothing.” (Ecclesiastes 3:18-19b TANAKH) God’s infinite and perfect mind cannot unite with the body of a beast, which amounts to nothing. God cannot be clothed with human flesh, which has glands which produce testosterone, which stirs up passions and desires. Such flesh prompts evil: "... flesh and blood devise evil." (Sirach 17:31 NRSV) Human flesh is lustful. Lust sometimes begins in the flesh. For example, sometimes men experience involuntary sexual arousals. Such arousals prompt their mind to lust. Paul explains how this works: "... nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me." (Romans 7:18-20, NRSV) As Paul wrote, "nothing good dwells" in the flesh. "Sin dwells within" the flesh. Flesh has carnal desires and passions, which, according to the Bible, induce a person to sin. "... fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." (1 Peter 2:11 NASB) Paul explains, "For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh;" (Galatians 5:17 NRSV) Flesh is sinful.  It is impossible to live in the flesh without sinning.  It is impossible to live in the flesh without sinning because, “… flesh and blood devise evil.” (Sirach 17:31 NRSV) In other words, in order for God to become fully a man and live as a real man, he has to sin. The Old Testament says that all men, without exception, sin: “... there is no man who does not sin ...” (1 Kings 8:46 NRSV) Since God cannot sin, he cannot become man. The scriptures state clearly “... there is no man who does not sin ...” and, according to the Bible, Christians cannot annul this scripture, because Jesus said, "... the scripture cannot be annulled ..." (John 10:35 NRSV)

The author of Hebrews explains, that Jesus became a man in every way: “For this reason he {Jesus} had to be made like his brothers in every way…” (Hebrews 2:17 NIV) Jesus had a beastly flesh. He had a penis and he had erections just like any other man. Since Jesus was a man in every way, he sinned. And for this reason he was baptized by John the Baptist. The historical Jesus (the real Jesus, not the fictional Jesus) was baptized for the remission of his sins.

    Luke did not believe Jesus is God, because he indicated that Jesus' strength was limited. He wrote, “An angel from heaven appeared to him {Jesus} and strengthened him.” (Luke 22:43 NIV) God does not need strength. He has unlimited strength. Since Jesus lacked in strength, he was not God.

     Jesus was born of a woman, and he was born under the Law: "... God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law," (Galatians 4:4 NRSV) The phrase “under the law” means, that Jesus was subject to the Law of the Old Testament. And the Old Testament says, “How can one born of woman be pure?” (Job 25:4 NRSV) Therefore, at the time of his birth, Jesus was impure. In the birth account of Jesus, Luke wrote, “When the time came for their purification {the purification of Mary and Jesus} according to the law of Moses, they brought him {baby Jesus} up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.” (Luke 2:22 NRSV) Mary and the new-born Jesus were impure until the purification ritual was performed on their behalf at the Temple. Since Jesus was born impure, he cannot be God, because God does not need to be purified; he is eternally pure.  There is no way of getting around Job 25:4, 1 Kings 8:46, Isaiah 55:8, and Ecclesiastes 3:18-19. These (and other) verses preclude Jesus from having been pure and sinless. (This is one reason that the Jews, who believe in the Old Testament, cannot accept Jesus as God.)  

He who's Presence is Limited is not God

    According to certain verses of the Bible, God is omnipresent. God is eternally omnipresent, because he does not change.  In the Gospel of John,  Jesus said, “I ... came down out of heaven.” (John 6:51 NASB) Before Jesus "came down out of heaven," he was not on earth. And when he was on earth, he was not in Heaven. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ ” (John 14:28 NRSV) He who is omnipresent does not "go away" or "come to" anyone, because he is everywhere. Since the author of the Gospel of John did not believe that Jesus is omnipresent, he did not believe Jesus is God. (Muslims, Jews, and Jehovah's Witnesses understand this concept. The Christians don't. And this misunderstanding has caused the Christians to persecute the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Jews and it has stirred the Christians repeatedly to go to war against the Muslims. For this reason, such political problems must be resolved first on the religious field.) Here is another example.“Now if He {Jesus} were on earth, He would not be a priest at all … ” (Hebrews 8:4-6 NASB) The expression “if he were on earth” indicates that the writer of Hebrews believed that Jesus was not omnipresent. (For a continued discussion of the subject Who Was Jesus? Was He God?  click here.) 

About the Concept of Omnipresence

 Jews and Christians claim that God is spirit (intangible, insubstantial), and that God never changes, and that God is omnipresent and omnipotent. This definition is fine. But they fall into a fallacy when they add that God is a person and therefore he has a body. If God has a body then he cannot be omnipresent because his presence is limited by the shape of his body. If God wears a body like a garment from time to time (to appear to humans), then he cannot be unchanging, because he alters himself from omnipresent to locally present.
    Some believe that God has a “spiritual body.” A “spiritual body” is an oxymoron. “Spiritual” means “insubstantial,” and “body” implies “substance.” God cannot be an “insubstantial substance.” In order for God to be omnipresent and unchanging he cannot have or can never acquire a body. A body has substance. And all substance has shape. It has the shape of atoms, or the shape of subatomic particles. Shape limits presence. Notice that the New Testament writers visualized God with a shape: “… Jesus standing at the right hand of God. … the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.’ ” (Acts 7:55 NIV) “… he {Jesus} sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Hebrews 1:3 NIV) “… who sat down {i.e. on a seat} at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven …” (Hebrews 8:1 NIV) “... a throne was set in heaven, and one {God} sat on the throne.” (Revelation 4:2 KJV) These descriptions depict God with a local presence. The following verse says that God “will dwell with” his people: “... Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them ...” (Revelation 21:3 KJV) This verse tells us that God is locally present. So do the following expressions: “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus ...” (2 Timothy 4:1 NRSV) “And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD ...” (Genesis 4:16 KJV) The expressions “in the presence” or “out of the presence” indicate that the god of Judaism, exists in a specific place. As for the god of Christianity he is three distinct persons (the Trinity): the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity occupies his own space; otherwise he would not be distinct from the other two persons. Three locally present persons (the three persons of the Trinity) cannot constitute an omnipresent entity. (This is why there can only be one God and he cannot be a person. As we will examine further on, God can only be a power.)
    The following passage says that God forbade the unclean from coming into his presence. God commanded, “… while he is in a state of uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 22:3 NRSV) The idea that God does not dwell in the realm of sin and in the realm of sinful persons is incompatible with the idea that God is omnipresent.
    Some people claim that they feel the presence of God when they walk into a holy place (i.e. a temple or a church) or when they enter the company of spirited worshippers, believers. What they feel is the result of their thinking. The “presence of God” is a figure of speech which describes one’s feelings.

If you find this page beneficial, "spread the word": link it to another web-site or send it to a friend. Click on "File," then  click "Send,   Page by E-mail ..."

A brief historical introduction to Jesus' political and cultural setting  

    At 63 BCE the Roman general Pompeii conquered Palestine. From that point on, the Romans appointed various local kings (such as the Herodian family) and governors to govern various territories of Palestine. Those kings and governors inevitably and unavoidably interfered with the religious customs of the Jews. For example, the kings and governors  of Judea took the prerogative of appointing the high priests of Judaism. The Jews were offended by the actions of those officials and consequently they rioted several times. Sometimes they rioted because the Romans stationed Gentiles (governors, military leaders, and soldiers) in Jerusalem (the holy city). Josephus mentions an incident, in Jerusalem, where a Roman soldier exposed his genitals to a crowd of Jews and made an obscene gesture. The Jews became furious and threw stones at the cohort of Roman soldiers. The soldiers responded swiftly. Consequently, there was Jewish blood shed on account of this incident. The "uncircumcised and the unclean" Roman soldiers defiled the holy city of God.  Jerusalem was the holy city of the Jews. Isaiah wrote, “O Jerusalem, the holy city; for the uncircumcised and the unclean shall enter you no more.” (Isaiah 52:1 NRSV)  The zealous Jews were offended by the presence of uncircumcised Gentiles, who trampled the sacred grounds of Jerusalem. They wanted to expel all Gentiles from Jerusalem and thus fulfill the prophecy in Isaiah 52:1.

     Another matter which stirred the Jews to riot was that the Romans obliged the Jews to honor Caesar. The Jewish high priests (the Sadducees, who were pro-Roman) offered sacrifices to God, at the Temple, on behalf of Caesar. This offended the zealous Jews, because Caesar himself was worshipped as a god in various cities of the Roman Empire. The zealous Jews (= the Zealots, the Sicarii, the Essenes, the zealous Pharisees, and the Jewish Christians) wanted to preserve the sanctity of the Temple and to honor God. They did not want to honor Caesar because their Bible read: “… you shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3 NRSV) So they revolted against the kingdom of Caesar (and against the Sadducee priests) and sought to establish the Kingdom of God.

     Form about 6 CE to 66 CE, the Jews rioted in numerous occasions in Jerusalem and in various locations of Palestine, especially in Galilee. Josephus wrote, “... the Galileans are accustomed to war from their infancy.” In retaliation, the Romans crucified thousands of zealous Jews (one of them was Jesus). This chronic turmoil led to the Great War of the Jews, which resulted in the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem, in 70 CE. When the Romans conquered Jerusalem, they dismantled and outlawed the Pharisees, the Essenes, and the Zealots (and the Jewish Christians). After the War, the Jews stopped calling themselves “Pharisees.” Two decades later, the Pharisees renamed themselves "Rabbinic Jews."
        Before the Great War, the political government of Israel was run by the Sadducees, the priestly sect. The Sadducees were puppets of the Romans and enemies of the Zealots (and enemies of Jesus: the Sadducees were the ones who arrested Jesus). Josephus reported that towards the end of the War the rebels slaughtered the Sadducees: “The Idumeans also strove with these men {the rebels} ... they ... cut the throats of the high priests, ... they thence proceeded to destroy utterly the least remains of a political government ...” (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, book 7, cha. 8 par.1, (267)). This was the end of the Sadducee sect. (The Sadducees did not blend with the rest of the Jewish sects because they did not believe in eternal life. Notice, that the Jews who believed in eternal life cut the throats of the Jews, who did not believe in eternal life. Those who did not believe in eternal life opposed Jesus. The Sadducees opposed Jesus.) Towards the end of the rebellion, the rebels managed to wipe out the sect of the Sadducees. But a short time later, the city fell in the hands of the Romans, who wiped out the rebels. Those whom the Romans did not kill, they sold as slaves to slave owners around the Roman Empire.
    Those were the days when the Jews, more than ever, expected the establishment of the Kingdom of God. They expected God to send his angels to save them from the Romans. The historical Jesus was part of that intense milieu. He was a zealous Jewish rabbi, who preached about the Kingdom of God and sanctioned with his teachings the Jewish resistance against the Romans and against the Sadducees. Jesus condemned the Sadducees and the Herodians (the friends of Herod), who served the Roman interests. John the Baptist (he baptized Jesus) condemned Herod and faced a similar fate as Jesus. The historical Jesus was a product of his environment. He did not establish a new religion. (Scholars, preachers, and laypersons must understand the following: No religion other than Judaism could have existed in Jerusalem. There was no such thing as "freedom of religion" in those days in Jerusalem. This is a very important subject, and is explained in detail, with historical documentation, in this book.) 

    Christians claim that Jesus established Christianity, and by that they mean Hellenistic Christianity not Jewish Christianity. The New Testament was not written by Jewish Christians. It was written by Hellenistic Christians (Hellenistic Jews - like Paul). Historical evidence shows that Jesus was not a Hellenist. He did not converse or preach in Greek. He did not travel (like Paul) around the Roman empire to spread his doctrines. Jesus did not use the Septuagint: the version that Paul used as his Bible. Jesus was a Jewish nationalist, the leader of a small Jewish sect in Jerusalem. He was not persecuted by the Jews for his religion. He was turned into the Romans by the Jewish authorities, the Sadducees and the Herodians, for stirring  the people against the Romans and against  the Sadducees and against the Herodians and claiming to be the awaited Messiah: the King of the Jews. Mark wrote, "The inscription of the charge against him read, 'The King of the Jews.' " (Mark 15:26 NRSV) He was "charged" for claiming to be the King of the Jews. His designation "king of the Jews" is the true reason he was crucified. The Romans executed anyone who claimed to be the King of the Jews, that is, the Messiah of the Jews. The following verse indicates that Jesus was known as “the Messiah”: “Pilate said to them {the Jews}, ‘ Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?’ ” (Matthew 27:22 NRSV) The Jews who called Jesus “the Messiah,” did not, in any way, view him as the savior of souls or the savior of mankind, and certainly not a god. The Messiah whom the Jews awaited was to be their  king. The following verse explains the title Messiah: “... saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.” (Luke 23:2 NRSV) The robber on the cross acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah: “One of the criminals who were hanged there {on the cross} kept deriding him {Jesus} and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ ” (Luke 23:39 NRSV) Jesus claimed he was the Messiah, and by that, he claimed he was the awaited King of the Jews. Pilate, too, acknowledged Jesus as the King of the Jews: “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:9 NASB) He ordered the superscription: “And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (Luke 23:38 KJV) Jesus was crucified as "King of the Jews." Again, this designation explains the reason he was crucified. (The interpretation that Jesus was crucified for the sins of the world is a Hellenistic Christian interpretation, which developed in the Diaspora, several years after Jesus' death. (Mr. Benson explains this subject in his book, and provides historical evidence, which elucidates this point.)

    Any Jew who opposed the Sadducees, opposed the Romans, because the Romans authorized the Sadducees to govern the Jews on internal matters. The Pharisees, generally, opposed the Sadducees and the Romans. The gospel writers (who were Hellenistic Jews, and lived in the Diaspora - this point is explained and documented in the book) did not portray in their gospels the real Jesus: a friend of the Pharisees and an opponent of the Sadducees and of the Romans. Had they presented the real Jesus, the Romans would have persecuted them and outlawed their religion: Hellenistic Christianity. (The Romans did not persecute Paul for his beliefs. Nero did not throw Hellenistic Christians to the lions. He threw Jews and Jewish Christians to the lions. He threw revolutionaries to the lions. There was a Jewish revolution going on in Palestine, and the activities of the revolutionaries spread in other Roman cities, like Alexandria, Antioch, and Rome. The author explains this subject in detail and with historical documentation.) To avoid Roman persecution the Hellenistic Christians assigned a new meaning to the title "Messiah." Paul preached about the Messiah of God, not about the Messiah of Israel. Notice that Paul, in his letters, denounced Pharisaism. The Romans persecuted and dismantled the Pharisees. He wrote, “{I am} a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee. ... But what things were gain to me {Pharisaism}, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I ... do count them but dung ...” (Philippians 3:5, 8 KJV) Paul did not preach about the historical Jesus, because the historical Jesus opposed the Romans and the Roman representatives. Paul preached about the "Christ," the celestial mediator of God.

    As mentioned earlier, at the end of the Great Jewish War, the Romans outlawed the Pharisees (and the rest of the Jewish sects, which revolted and fought against them). Consequently, for about 20 years after the War there was no Pharisee sect. When the surviving Pharisees reorganized themselves, at about 90 CE, in Jamnia, they renamed themselves "Rabbinic Jews." This shows that the Romans were the ones who dismantled the Pharisees. Jesus was crucified by the same power that dismantled the Pharisees.

    Jesus was not just a religious figure. One cannot separate him from the politics of his time. Religion and politics have always been united in Jewish history, from the times of Moses and up to today. Moses was not just a religious figure. He was a political and military leader. He conducted wars, to conquer the areas of Palestine east of the Jordan river. The prophets of the Old Testament advised the kings and the military leaders of Israel on military matters. The prophets provided the Jewish leaders with revelations and divine guidance on how to fight the enemies of Israel. The prophets judged the kings. Thus, they were involved in politics. Jeremiah, supposedly, predicted that Nebuchadnezzar will conquer Jerusalem. (Even today, religious leaders, like Pat Robertson, speak on how the American presidents should conduct the wars of America and how to conduct the Middle-eastern policy. The function of religion has been the same ever since the times of Moses.) Jesus was not much different from Moses and the prophets. The picture of Jesus in the gospels is incomplete and in some instances misleading. The part that has been ommited from the gospels or even misrepresented is the political aspect of Jesus' preaching. And this aspect becomes evident when one studies the Jewish history during Jesus' turbulent times. Understanding why the Romans crucified the Zealots, leads to understanding why the Romans crucified Jesus. (This is a very important subject. It is explained and documented in detail in the book.)

    The religion of Paul was Hellenistic Christianity, which was an aberrant form of Hellenistic Judaism. Paul never called himself a Christian. Paul's religion was vehemently rejected in Jerusalem. (See, Hellenistic Christians could not have possibly existed in Jerusalem before 70 CE.) (During Jesus' and Paul's times  there was a strong sentiment  against Hellenism in Jerusalem. Anti-Hellenism fueled the revolts against the Romans, against the Sadducees, and against the Samaritans, all of whom were Hellenists. The architecture of Rome is Hellenistic, and the Roman writers of the 1st century were reading the writings of the Greek philosophers.) Jesus' religion was zealous Judaism (a mix of Pharisaism and Essenism). It is called Jewish Christianity (a modern term), only as a matter of identification. Also, Jesus did not introduce salvation and eternal life. These statements sound strange, only because the facts about early Christianity are not commonly known. They are not taught in churches (where the vast majority of people learn about Christianity). Andrew Benson explains the religious/political history of Palestine during the first century, and provides copious documentation.

****************

  Evidence that Christians Believe in Reincarnation

            Christians believe that God, the Father, is invisible. “No man has seen God {the Father} at any time.” (John 1:18 KJV) “{God}... who ... dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.” (1 Timothy 6:16 NASB) Since God is invisible, they claim that he who appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai was not God. Who was it then? To answer this question, Christians borrowed the Trinity doctrine of the pagan religions. They explained that it was the second god of the Trinity, Jesus, who talked to Moses out of the burning bush: “There the angel of the LORD appeared to him {Moses} in a flame of fire out of a bush;” (Exodus 3:2 NRSV) Christians claim that Jesus is “the angel of the LORD.”

            Jacob wrestled in his tent with a man. That man told Jacob  "you have striven with God," and thus he identified himself as God: “Then the man said {to Jacob}, ‘You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and … have prevailed.’ ” (Genesis 32:28 NRSV) But Christians claim that the god mentioned in the above verse is not the god of the Jews (Yahweh); it is Jesus. They also claim that Jesus was the one who appeared to Gideon: “The angel of the Lord appeared to him {Gideon} and said to him, ‘ The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.’ … and the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.” (Judges 6:12, 21 NRSV) Notice that Jesus appeared with a body of flesh out of nowhere and disappeared in the same manner.

    Christians believe that since Jesus emanated from God (before the creation of the world), and God is an invisible spirit, Jesus was originally an invisible spirit. Then, in order to become visible to Gideon and to wrestle with Jacob, Jesus incarnated: he acquired human flesh. Centuries later, according to Matthew and Luke, Jesus acquired another carnal body when Mary gave birth to him. Here is the catch: since, when he was born from Mary, he took on a different flesh from the flesh he wore when he wrestled with Jacob, then Jesus reincarnated. According to the Encarta Dictionary, reincarnation is “the cyclic return of a soul to live another life in a new body.” According to Christian doctrine, Jesus did exactly that. At first, he acquired a carnal body, with which he appeared to Jacob, to Gideon, to Moses, to Abraham and to others. (The Bible does not say whether Jesus appeared to all these people with the same body. It could be that he acquired a different carnal body for each occasion and then discarded that body.)  Then, somehow, he gave up that body and his soul entered in the womb of Mary. And through the flesh of Mary he acquired another carnal body. This fits exactly the definition of reincarnation. Therefore, Christians unwittingly advocate Jesus’ reincarnation.

            Not only Jesus, but the Holy Spirit, too, incarnated. It incarnated as a dove during his baptism: “{Gr. καὶ ἰδοὺ ἠνεῴχθησαν [αὐτῷ] οἱ οὐρανοί, καὶ εἶδεν [τὸ] πνεῦμα [τοῦ] θεοῦ καταβαῖνον ὡσεὶ περιστερὰν [καὶ] ἐρχόμενον ἐπʼ αὐτόν} and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and coming to him” (Matthew 3:16 Transl. by the author) Jesus had human eyes and with those eyes he saw the Holy Spirit coming down. The Holy Spirit was visible to human eyes. It had a body and looked like a dove. Mark wrote, “Immediately coming up out of the water, He {Jesus} saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;” (Mark 1:10 NASB) John the Baptist, too, saw the Holy Spirit: “Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.’ ” (John 1:32 NIV) Luke wrote, “… and the Holy Spirit descended upon him {upon Jesus} in bodily form [1] like a dove {Gr. σωματικῷ εἴδει ὡς περιστερὰν}.” (Luke 3:22 NRSV) The phrase “in bodily form” indicates that the Holy Spirit, too, incarnated. The Church Father Tertullian wrote, “… the Gospel of John ... declares that the Spirit descended in the body of a dove, and sat upon the Lord. When the said Spirit was in this condition, He was as truly a dove as He was also a spirit; nor did He destroy His own proper substance by the assumption of an extraneous substance {animal flesh}. But you ask what becomes of the dove’s body, after the return of the Spirit back to heaven ... ?” [2] Did the Holy Spirit discard its carnal body? Did worms eat that body? What happened to it?

If you find this page beneficial, "spread the word": link it to another web-site or send it to a friend. Click on "File," then  click "Send,   Page by E-mail ..."

*****************

The historical approach to understanding the Bible

    Here is a brief historical overview of how the Judaic beliefs evolved. (This subject is discussed in detail in the book.)

    Abraham is called "the Father of the Jews," because he established the fundamental ritual of Judaism: circumcision. Judaism originated with circumcision. This tells us that before Abraham, Judaism did not exist. Abraham was a religious reformer: he reformed the religion of his ancestors (the Sumerians) and thus he established Judaism. Abraham did not believe in the Ten Commandments. He did not observe the Sabbath. Several hundred years after him, Moses reformed the religion of Abraham by introducing most of the Ten Commandments (such as observing the Sabbath) and a few other laws. Moses did not teach about Heaven (about life in Paradise), Hell, or Satan, because he did not believe in such concepts. Such concepts were introduced to Judaism during the exilic era (597 to 538 BCE) and the post-exilic era. Obviously, the religion of Judaism evolved.

    Here is something of interest and of importance. During the era of the judges (before King Saul) God accepted human sacrifices:
Notice the story of Abraham. Abraham attempted to sacrifice his son Isaac to God. This is a clue that in early Judaism the Hebrews and later the Israelites offered human sacrifices to their god. Jephthah lived after Moses, in the period of the judges, perhaps about a century before King Saul. Jephthah was a man of God: “Then the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah … ” (Judges 11:29 NRSV) He promised to God a human sacrifice, if God would grant him victory. “And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, ‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering.’ ” (Judges 11:30-31 NRSV) God accepted Jephthah’s vow and granted him victory: “So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them; and the LORD gave them into his hand.” (Judges 11:32 NRSV) God willed for Jephthah’s daughter (his firstborn) to come out of the house to meet Jephthah: “And Jephthah came to Mizpeh to his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tumbrels and with dances: and she was his only child {i.e. firstborn}; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.” (Judges 11:34 KJV) So Jephthah sacrificed (burned on an altar) his firstborn to God: “{he} did with her according to the vow he had made.” (Judges 11:39 NRSV) God accepted a human sacrifice. This is a clue, that during the times of Jephthah (a little more than a century before Solomon) the Israelites, on special occasions, offered their children as sacrifice to God. And since they ate the sacrifices, they practiced cannibalism. As the writer of Baruch explains, “Under the whole heaven there has not been done the like of what he has done in Jerusalem … Some of us ate the flesh of their sons and others the flesh of their daughters.” (Baruch 2:2-3 NRSV) This is evidence that  during the time of Jephthah the following verses of Leviticus, which prohibit human sacrifice, did not exist: “You shall not give any of your offspring to sacrifice them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God:” (Leviticus 18:21 NRSV) “Say further to the people of Israel: Any of the people of Israel, or of the aliens who reside in Israel, who give any of their offspring to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone them to death.” (Leviticus 20:2 NRSV) Jephthah would not have offered his daughter as sacrifice to God, had these verses been part of his Bible. Also, Moses did not write these verses because the phrases “Say … to the people of Israel … aliens who reside in Israel” refer to a situation which existed in Canaan after the lifetime of Moses. (Scholars believe that a considerable part of Leviticus was written between the 7th and the 5th centuries BCE.) Also, Moses did not write the above verse because during his time the Israelites did not worship Molech. The worship of Molech (scholars are not sure about the term “Molech,” whether it refers to a god or to a cultic practice or it is a dysphemism) appears to have been established among the Israelites by Solomon, who lived more than two centuries after Moses: “Then Solomon built a high place for … Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.” (1 Kings 11:7 NRSV) The fact that a century after Moses’ time Jephthah sacrificed his daughter and God approved of such sacrifice, raises big questions about Moses and the type of religion he established. Micah wrote, “Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (Micah 6:7 NRSV) It appears that some Israelites sacrificed their children, intermittently, from the times of Jephthah to the times of King Josiah. Josiah abolished the human sacrifices to Molech: “He {King Josiah} defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, so that no one would make a son or a daughter pass through fire as an offering to Molech.” (2 Kings 23:10 NRSV)
    After the times of Moses, the Law was augmented. That is, Judaism continued to evolve. Here are some examples (these are just samples of what is presented in the book). In the 8th century BCE, King Hezekiah revised the Mosaic law, which commanded the Israelites to eat the Passover at home:

 Later on, in the 7th century BCE, at the time of King Josiah, there was another reformation of Judaism: the high priest Hilkiah introduced the book of Deuteronomy, which contains additional reforms (click for more). As Judaism evolved, prophets or scribes wrote new books to accommodate the new beliefs. A few decades after the end of the Babylonian exile the high priest and scribe, Ezra (click for more)  edited the books of the Law. Here is one change he introduced:

Notice that Ezra ignored the fact that the statute, which prohibited the eating of fat was a "perpetual statute."   This goes to show that no belief is perpetual (everlasting). 

******

By the way, the following verse of Second-Isaiah (the latter section of Isaiah) alludes to the Exile as a punishment that has already taken place: “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term {in exile}, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” (Isaiah 40:2 NRSV) Isaiah lived long before the exile. He lived from about 740 to 681 BCE. The exile began in 597 BCE. This verse was written (inserted by scribes in the books of Isaiah) after the exile.(Dating the books of the Bible is critical in understanding how and when the Judeo-Christian beliefs evolved.)

*******

     During the Greek-Roman era, Judaism went through further reformations (the Judaic beliefs changed again). In 323 BCE the Greeks (through the conquests of Alexander the Great) occupied Israel. In the following 150 years the Greeks influenced the Jews. The Jews fell in love with the Hellenistic culture. Judaism became to some degree Hellenized. At about 167 BCE the Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes abolished Judaism in Palestine and imposed Hellenism and the worship of the Greek god Zeus. The Samaritans complied eagerly, but the Maccabees (who were Judean Jews) with the help of the Hasidim (those who were zealous for the Law) revolted. After a successful revolt and liberation from the Greeks they established Maccabean Judaism (pious/conservative, anti-Hellenistic, zealous Judaism) in Judea. 

   Here is another example of how the Law (Judaism) evolved. Before the times of Antiochus IV Epiphanes the Jews did not fight on the Sabbath because God commanded: “Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day {on the Sabbath}.” (Exodus 16:29 NASB) This law was modified during the times of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, to allow fighting on the Sabbath: “And all {the Jewish soldiers of Mattathias} said to their neighbors: ‘If we all do as our kindred {our fellow Jews} have done {i.e. rest on the Sabbath} and refuse to fight {on the Sabbath} with the Gentiles for our lives and for our ordinances, they will quickly destroy us from the earth.’ So they made this decision that day: ‘Let us fight against anyone who comes to attack us on the Sabbath day; let us not all die as our kindred died in their hiding places.’ ” (1 Maccabees 2:40-41 NRSV) Mattathias, the father of the Maccabees, is the hero of Judaism. Yet, he broke God's Law. This shows that the laws of God are flexible. One can break them in exceptional situations. Jesus walked in the footsteps of the Maccabees. Like the Maccabees, in some exceptional, justifiable, situations Jesus broke the Sabbath. When the Jews questioned him, "He {Jesus} said to them, 'Suppose one of you has only one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath; will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a human being than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.' " (Matthew 12:11-12 NRSV) Here is an alternative version of that incident: "Then he said to them, 'If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a Sabbath day?' " (Luke 14:5 NRSV) 

        In 63 BCE, the Romans (under General Pompeii) conquered and occupied Israel and granted religious freedom to the Jews. The Romans assimilated the Hellenistic culture and promoted it in the nations they conquered. The pious/zealous Jews of Judea, Galilee, and Qumran (the Hasidim) loathed Hellenism. Towards the turn of the century (about the time Jesus was born)  the Judean, Galilean, and Qumran Jews (Qumran is in Judea) yearned for total religious freedom and aspired to eliminate Hellenism from Palestine, which was promoted by the Romans. (Even though the conservative Jews were anti-Hellenistic, they were not able to truly eliminate Hellenism, because Hellenism had been embedded in their culture since the times of Alexander the Great.) The Romans had given the Jews a certain amount of religious freedom. But the zealous Jews stretched the limits of that freedom. Through protests and minor rebellions the Jewish rebels pressured the Romans, who repeatedly, for about six decades (during the 1st century CE), cracked down on the rebels, but with some restrain. (The chief priests, most of whom were wealthy Sadducees and some Pharisees, collaborated with the Romans. They disapproved of the revolts of the zealous Jews.) In 66 CE the zealous Jews resorted to an all out rebellion (which lasted seven years: until 73 CE) against the Romans and against the wealthy Hellenistic chief priests (mostly Sadducees and a few wealthy Pharisees), and attempted to establish their dream: "the Kingdom of God" (about which, Jesus preached). The Romans destroyed the Temple of Jerusalem (in 70 CE) and "shut down" zealous Judaism. Except for a few city walls, they razed the city of Jerusalem to the ground. Zealous Judaism ceased to exist. (Zealous Judaism was the Judaism, first, of the Maccabees, and later, (in the 1 century CE), of the Zealots, the Essenes, the common Pharisees, of John the Baptist, of Jesus and the Jewish Christians.) After the Great War of the Jews, new forms of Judaism (such as, Rabbinic Judaism) took the place of zealous Judaism (the Judaism of Jesus).

The types of Judaism in the times of Jesus and Paul

    To understand the historical Jesus it is important to distinguish the main types of Judaism in the times of Jesus and Paul. (The following table is a sketchy illustration, which needs explanations and qualifications. The data of this table are explained in the book.)

    Some scholars use the term "Palestinian Judaism." This term, is correct when applied to Judaism prior to the Hellenistic era. During the Hellenistic Era Palestine included Judea, Galilee, Decapolis, Philistia, Nabataea, and Samaria. The Judaism of those areas cannot be placed in one category. Even though the Samaritans used the Pentateuch, Samaritan Judaism was Hellenistic. It was similar to Diaspora Judaism. It was unlike Judean Judaism (the Judaism of the Pharisees, the Essenes, the Zealots, and the Jewish Christians). The Judean Jews had excommunicated the Samaritans, and considered them Gentiles. The Maccabees (who were Judeans) destroyed the Samaritan temple, at Gerizim, which had been dedicated to Zeus. The Samaritans belong to the category of Diaspora Judaism. It is from Diaspora Judaism that Hellenistic Christianity evolved. Today's Christianity evolved from Hellenistic Christianity.  

(These subjects are discussed in detail in the book and documented with numerous ancient quotations.)

Some differences between Jesus' followers and Paul's followers

   There is much to be said about the Jewish Christians. They are obscure and greatly misunderstood by today's Christians. (The book presents several pieces of historical evidence -quotations from ancient writings- which elucidate the Jewish Christians.) Briefly, they were Jesus' original followers in Jerusalem. They were part of Second Temple Judaism. They were against Paul. They are the "Judaizers" (mentioned by Paul in Galatians) who opposed Paul in the synagogue/church of Galatia. (The subject of the "Judaizers" is examined in depth in the book.) They were "zealous for the Law." They practiced the Law almost "to the letter," and blended with the Zealots, the common Pharisees, and the Essenes (the lower economic class of Jews: the "poor," about whom Jesus preached in the Sermon of the Mountain). The following passage of Philo illustrates the mindset of the zealous Jews: “But the single nation of the Jews … was suspected by him {the Roman Emperor Gaius Caligula 37-41 CE} of wishing to counteract his desires, since it {the nation of Jews} was accustomed to embrace voluntary death as an entrance to immortality, for the sake of not permitting any of their national or hereditary customs {the Law} to be destroyed, even if it were of the most trivial character (click for more), because, as is the case in a house, it often happens that by the removal of one small part, even those parts which appeared to be solidly established fall down, being relaxed and brought to decay by the removal of that one {trivial} thing .” [Philo, On the Embassy to Gaius, par. XVI, (117)]  Such Jews were the Essenes, the Pharisees, the Zealots, the followers of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Jewish Christians: strict adherents to the Law: conservative Jews. (They were the lower economic class of Jews.) During the Great War of 66 to 73 CE, they fought against the Romans to establish the Kingdom of God: “… the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed ... It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it will stand forever.” (Daniel 2:44 NRSV) Some of them fought the Romans after the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) until 73 CE.

    Up to 52 CE James, the brother of Jesus, was the leader of the Jewish Christians. He was a priest at the Temple of Jerusalem. The Jewish Christians prayed directly to God (not through Jesus). They used the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. They spoke Aramaic. They wrote the Gospel of the Hebrews (in Aramaic), which did not survive.  (The following table Christianity in the times of Paul, is a sketchy illustration, which needs explanations. The data of this table are explained in detail in the book.)

Christianity in the times of Paul

Paul's Teaching Contradicts the Teaching of the Old Testament

If righteousness cannot be gained through the Law, then all the Jews who worship God and practice the Law will go to Hell.

The author of Hebrews was probably Apollos, a co-worker of Paul. His teachings were similar to Paul’s. He wrote,

If you find this page beneficial, "spread the word": link it to another web-site or send it to a friend. Click on "File," then  click "Send,   Page by E-mail ..."

****************************************************************************************************************************************

****************************************************************************************************************************************

The Historical Jesus versus the Spiritual Jesus

  Biblical historians have deciphered the historical Jesus from the New Testament and from various pieces of evidence which appear in various ancient writings. (This book explains, with documentation -with quotations from ancient writings- the differences between the historical Jesus and the spiritual Jesus.) It is important to understand that the historical Jesus was a Jew: a person of Hebrew descent whose religion was zealous Judaism: a mixture of Pharisaism and Essenism. Jesus was not a Christian, because he was circumcised, he was  dedicated at the Temple, he performed the Bar Mitzvah at the age of twelve, and he observed the rituals of the Law. He did not break the Law or abolish it. His disagreements with the Pharisees (mentioned in the gospels) were nothing out of the ordinary in the contemporary Judaic milieu. (After the destruction of the Temple - 70 CE- Judaism changed tremendously -the sacrifices ceased-, yet no one can say that after 70 CE the Jews did not uphold the Law. Ezra instructed the Jews to eat fat, yet no one claimed the Ezra abolished the Law.) Just like Ezra, Jesus did not abolish the Law. According to the writer of Acts, Stephen prophesied, “Jesus of Nazareth … will change the customs which Moses delivered us …” (Acts 6:14 KJV) The verb "will change" signifies an action in the future. Stephen did not say "Jesus has changed the customs which Moses delivered us." Also, Stephen said this after the death of the historical Jesus. This verse shows that the historical Jesus did not change the customs of Moses.

    Jesus worshipped God with the Jews of Judea, and taught Judaism at the Temple and in Jewish synagogues. He did not teach Christianity. No one was allowed to teach Hellenistic Christianity in Jerusalem. When Stephen and, later, Paul attempted to preach something other than conservative Judaism, Stephen was stoned by the Jews, and Paul was about to be stoned, when the Romans saved him. The Jews did not crucify Jesus. The public supported Jesus. The Sadducees (who were Hellenists) turned Jesus over to the Romans, because he led a messianic uprising against the Romans and was not qualified as the Messiah of the Jews. The Sadducees were collaborators with the Romans, and desired to forestall the wrath of the Romans. So, they turned Jesus over to the Romans, who crucified him.

    The story of Jesus was turned into a legend among the Diaspora Jews. The historical Jesus was turned into the spiritual Jesus. The Judean Jews persecuted the followers of the spiritual Jesus. The historical Jesus was part of the late Second Temple Judaism of Judea. His religion, zealous Judaism, disappeared after the destruction of the Temple, and his sect (the Jewish Christians) disappeared from history after the Bar Kokhba revolt ca. 132-135 CE.

    Paul was a Hellenistic Diaspora Jew, who, according to the book of Acts and his letters, preached, as a rule, in liberal Diaspora synagogues: he preached to Hellenistic Diaspora Jews, proselytes, and God-fearers (Gentiles who attended liberal Diaspora synagogues). Understanding the two opposing types of Christianity and the different types of Judaism in the early first century, is crucial in understanding the origins and the evolution of the Judaic and Christian beliefs.

Did the New Testament Writers Believe Jesus Is God?

Today, the fundamental issue which divides Christians and Jews is the Christian claim that God is three persons (a Trinity). This division did not exist in the first century. Jews and Hellenistic Christians believed in the same god. They both believed that the Holy Spirit was merely the Power of God, not a person. The Old Testament Jews believed that the Holy Spirit was the Power of God. The Holy Spirit entered into Samson and gave him strength: “The Spirit of the LORD came upon him {Samson} mightily …” (Judges 14:6 NASB) Also, the Holy Spirit entered King David and caused him to prophesy.

Here are some facts one must know concerning the Trinity Doctrine:

1. Moses did not believe that God is three persons, simply because he did not teach this doctrine.

2. The Jewish prophets did not believe that God is three persons, simply because they did not teach this doctrine.

3. Jesus taught what Moses and the prophets taught. He was not accused of preaching that God is three persons (click for more)  or of preaching that he was a god (click for more).

3. Paul was persecuted by the Jews many times. He was not accused nor stoned by the Jews for preaching that God is three persons.

4. None of New Testament writers wrote that God is three persons and the verses which mention the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7-8) in the King James version were inserted in the New Testament text by Latin manuscript editors. The New Revised Standard Version reads: "There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree." (1 John 5:7-8 NRSV)

5. There is no historical or biblical record, where a first century Jew accused a Christian of preaching that God is three persons.

How did the division over the identity of God between Jews and Christians arise? There are many historical and biblical facts to consider, but here are just a few to start with (this is an abbreviated discussion; a full discussion is presented in the book):  

God is Invisible --- Jesus became visible

    Jesus lived for about 41 years (not 33, as commonly thought) in Israel, and thousands of Israelites saw him. The writer of Acts wrote, “God ... granted that He {Jesus} become visible ...” (Acts 10:40 NASB) The Bible says that Jesus became visible. The Bible also says that God is invisible: “No one has seen God at any time.” (John 1:18 NIV) “No one has ever seen God.” (1 John 4:12 NIV) “...{God} who ... dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see.” (1 Timothy 6:16 NASB) The New Testament writers believed that Jesus became visible, whereas God (the Father) is eternally invisible.

    The Christian Church Father, Tertullian wrote, “We {Christians} in like manner say that the Father of Christ is invisible, for we know that it was the Son who was seen {became visible} in ancient times (whenever any appearance {in the Old Testament} was vouchsafed to men in the name of God) as the image of (the Father) Himself.” Tertullian, The Five Books Against Marcion, book 5, cha. 19. Tertullian believed that the appearances of God in Old Testament, were appearances of Jesus, the representative of God.

    Since the New Testament writers believed that God is eternally invisible and that Jesus became visible, they did not believe Jesus is God.

    But what about the Holy Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit God? Christians believe that God is a trinity, which consists of three equal persons (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Did the New Testament writers believe the Holy Spirit is God? Here is what Matthew wrote about the Holy Spirit: “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he {Jesus} saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him.” (Matthew 3:16 NIV) Jesus had human eyes and with those eyes he saw the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was visible to human eyes and it looked like a dove: “Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him;” (Mark 1:10 NASB) Also, John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit: “Then John gave this testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.’ ” (John 1:32 NIV) According to Mark and John the Holy Spirit became visible, whereas, according to New Testament theology, God is eternally invisible.

Let's sort things out:

God is invisible: “No man has seen God at any time.” (John 1:18 KJV)

The Father is invisible: “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God;” (John 6:46 NASB)

The Son became visible: “God ... granted that He {Jesus} become visible ...” (Acts 10:40 NASB)

The Holy Spirit became visible: “... I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove ...” (John 1:32 NIV)

Here is the formula: Since only God is invisible and only the Father is invisible, then only the Father is God. This is what the New Testament writers believed.

   People learn in school that 1+1+1= 3. But in church they are told 1+1+1= 1. How can three distinct beings (persons) be one being? Some Christians admit that the Trinity does not make sense. M. R. DeHaan, a renowned Christian apologist, wrote, “The Trinity, that is, three persons in one, is a mystery which is revealed in the Bible, but cannot be understood by the human mind. Since man is finite, and God infinite, this is one of those things which must be accepted by faith, even though it cannot be reasoned out. The Trinity cannot be explained, but it must be believed ...”(DeHaan, M. R., Five Hundred Eight Answers to Bible Questions, p. 168.)

    Saint Augustine says that one must believe before he can understand: “… believe and understand, for the Prophet says, “Unless ye believe ye shall not understand” Do ye not comprehend? Be enlarged. Hear the Apostle: “Be ye, enlarged, bear not the yoke with unbelievers.” They who will not believe this before they comprehend {it} are unbelievers. And because they have determined to be unbelievers, they will remain in their ignorance. Let them believe then that they may understand.”(St. Aurelius Augustine, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament, Sermon XC. [CXL Ben.].)  Believers are told to submit to the judgment of their spiritual leaders without questioning a doctrine, which their leaders themselves do not understand and cannot explain. And this doctrine was established by shedding the blood of those who questioned it and refused to accept it. Christians justify the concept of Trinity by saying that human beings are finite and liable both to sin and err.  And for this reason, the finite mind of man cannot understand the concept of Trinity. The reality is, when one believes in things he does not understand, he believes superstition.

    Paul wrote to the Colossians "He {Jesus} is the image of the invisible God ..." (Colossians 1:15 NRSV) The expression “in the image of God” conveys  resemblance not equality. Man, too, is "in the image of God": “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; ” (Genesis 1:27 NASB) Man resembles God. Man is not God. Resemblance does not confer equality.

 Consider also this: Diaspora Jews referred to God as "the Father." They believed God is one person. They believed only the Father is God. Had Paul preached Jesus is God, he would have been forbidden from preaching in Diaspora synagogues. “… he {Paul} began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ … But Saul {Paul} kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.” (Acts 9:20, 22 NASB) Paul proved that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, not God. The terms “Son of God,” “Messiah” and “Christ” were synonymous terms, which were commonly used in Israel in those days. The Jews used the terms “Son of God” and “Christ” to refer to their awaited Messiah, whom they expected to be a mere man. (About the meaning of "Son of God" and "Christ" click on the link higher up on this page, to read the chapter explaining these terms.) The Jews held this belief (the the Messiah will be a mere man) long before the times of Jesus, and still do. Apollos, the co-worker of Paul, vigorously proved, in public debate with Jews, that Jesus was the Christ, the one they had been waiting for: “For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.” (Acts 18:24 NASB) Paul and Apollos tried to convince the Diaspora Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, the man, they had been waiting for. Had they attempted to prove to them that Jesus is God those Jews would not have debated with them. They would have stoned them.

    The Diaspora Jews were not debating with the early Hellenistic Christians  whether Jesus is God or not. This was not an issue. They debated only whether Jesus was the Christ, the man they had been waiting for. The second century Church Father Justin Martyr wrote,  “And this the Jews who possessed the books of the prophets did not understand, and therefore did not recognize Christ even when He came, but even hate us who say that He has come, and who prove that, as was predicted, He was crucified by them.” Justin Marty, First Apology, Cha. XXXVI. Justin's expression "but even hate us who say that He has come" suggests that Christians and Jews of the second century (at least, the ones that Justin Martyr knew) argued whether the Messiah had come. Justin Martyr did not write that the Jews were persecuting the Christians because the latter claimed that Jesus was God.

    The Hellenistic Christian idea, that the Messiah was to suffer and die, completely contradicted Jewish expectation. The Diaspora Jews rejected Jesus as their awaited Messiah because he had been hanged (crucified). Paul and Apollos defended Jesus as the Messiah against the Jewish objection that “… he that is hanged is accursed of God.” (Deuteronomy 21:23 NRSV) Those Jews could not accept a Messiah who had been “accursed of God.”  Paul acknowledged that Jesus was accursed: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us …” (Galatians 3:13 NASB) Since Paul believed that Jesus “became a curse” he did not believe that Jesus was God because it is impossible for God to become a curse (God is eternally perfect, never diminishing, never changing, that means, never becoming anything else, such as a man - perfection does not allow variation- and man varies from God).

If you find this page beneficial, "spread the word": link it to another web-site or send it to a friend. Click on "File," then  click "Send,   Page by E-mail ..."

Here is a sample of critical thinking applied to the Bible:

How Truthful Were Matthew and Luke?

            In the following account Matthew wrote that the centurion came to Jesus while Luke wrote that the centurion sent elders and friends to Jesus. Which one of them is telling the truth?

If the centurion did not come to Jesus, as Luke reported, then the conversation reported by Matthew between Jesus and the centurion is fictitious. In any way, both Matthew and Luke cannot be telling the truth.

(This is a great subject, which cannot be explained without going into details.)

To read some sample-chapters go to How Judaism Evolved into Christianity

Note: The book contains over 2,500 footnotes (quotations and references), which explain or document the facts presented. Those footnotes are not included in the excerpts presented in this web site.

Recommended and parallel web sites:
1. A Gateway to the Research of the Jesus Seminar. The Jesus Seminar Forum is an introduction to the research of the Jesus Seminar of  the Westar Institute & a bridge to Jesus scholarship on line. The ultimate goal of this website is that of the Jesus Seminar itself: to bring the quest of the historical Jesus of Nazareth to the center of a global forum.
2. The Fathers of the Church This web site presents online the writings of various Christian Church fathers. Those writings are very important in learning how the Christian beliefs originated and how they developed.
3. WIKIPEDIA the Free Encyclopedia (Article: New Testament.) This page contains introductory information on the New Testament, covering subjects such as, Authorship, Date of composition, Canonization, Views on New Testament authority, etc. These subjects are covered in the book "The Origins of Christianity and the Bible," in the same manner but in greater depth.
4. Top 25 Things to Research Concerning Christianity.  This page provides a large number of links to books and pages that discuss historical and archeological facts pertaining to the Bible and Christianity.

If you find this page beneficial, "spread the word": link it to another web-site or send it to a friend. Click on "File," then  click "Send,   Page by E-mail ..."

 Abridged Table of Contents

 I. The Origins of the Old Testament

            1.  The Development of the Early Text
            2. The Importance of Dating the Old Testament Books
            3. The Origins and Development Moses' Law
            4.  Literary Sources of the Old Testament
            5. The Miracles of Exodus Explained

            6. The Links between the  Greeks and the Israelites

            7. Greek Stories and Their Parallels in the Old Testament

            8. The Jewish Calendar from Adam to Moses

II. The History of God

            9. The History of God From Abraham to Moses
            10. The History of God from Moses to 586 BCE

            11. Similarities between God and Other Ancient Near Eastern Gods

            12. The Body of God, according to the Old Testament

            13. The Mind of God, according to the Old Testament

III. The Development of the Judeo-Christian Doctrines after 586 BCE

            14. Zoroaster: The Man who Changed the Course of Judeo-Christianity
            15. The Origins of Satan and Predestination
            16. The Origins of the Belief in Eternal Life
            17. How Zoroaster Influenced the Greeks and the Essenes

IV. The Melting Pot that Brewed Christianity

            18.The Cultural Background of Christianity
            19. Alexandrian Judaism: the Precursor of Christianity

            20. How the Intertestamental Books Influenced the New Testament Writers
            21.  Zoroaster's Influence on the New Testament Writers

            22. The Essene Influence on the New Testament Writers

            23. Plato's Influence on the New Testament Writers

            24. The Greek Mystery Religions and Their Influence on Christianity
            25. How Philo Laid the Foundations of Christianity
            26. How Philo Fashioned the Word of God
            27. Pre-Christian Stories that Molded the Story of Jesus

V. The Birth of Christianity

            28. The Jewish Christians: the Original Followers of Jesus

            29. Dissension between the Jewish and Hellenist Christians
            30. How the Hellenist Christians Separated from the Jewish Christians
            31. How the Hellenist Christians Misquoted the Old Testament
            32. How the Hellenist Christians Evolved into Gentile Christians

VI. Concerning the Historical Jesus

    Jesus' Teachings Compared to Those of His Contemporary Jewish Rabbis

            35. What Kind of Messiah Did Jesus Claim to Be?

                35.1 What Did “Son of God” Mean in Those Days?
                               King of the Jews = Son of God.
                35.2 Why Did the Romans Crucify Jesus?

            36. While Jesus Was Alive, Did His Family and His Disciples Believe He Was God?

            37. After Jesus Died, Did His Disciples Believe He Was God?

            38. Did Mark Believe Jesus Was God?

            39. How Jesus' Beliefs Reveal His Nature

VII. How Jesus Was Turned into God

            40. How Men Were Turned into Gods
            41. How the Image of Jesus Evolved in the Synoptic Gospels
            42. The Jesus of Paul
             43. The Jesus of John
            44. How the Early Church Fathers Viewed Jesus

            45. The Origins of the Trinity Doctrine
            46. How the 4th Century Church Fathers Declared Jesus Equal to God

VIII. An Inquiry in the Testimony for Jesus
IX. Various Biblical Discrepancies
X. The Unfulfilled Prophecies                                                    

    To see the complete Table of Contents click here:  Complete Table of Contents

   To see the complete Bibliography click here: Bibliography

(Return to top)