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What did Lou Gehrig's doctors say he had? “Mr. Gehrig, I’m afraid you have ‘Lou Gehrig’s Disease’. “Huh? Say what, Doc?” By the same token, Jesus was not a Christian. There were no Christians at the time. Only “The Disciples of Jesus the Christ”. Later shortened to just plain “Christians”. By the same token Abraham was not a Jew.Nor was Jesus a Jew, though of course he was born and educated into the faith. As such, he most likely presumed reincarnation, as did the Kabalists and the majority of Jews at the time. Starting with Matthew 22:23 Jesus debates the Sadducees (who deny the immortality of the soul) with the Pharisees who apparently held with reincarnation. It’s a Pharisee who asks Jesus if he is Elijah come again.  Of course, Jesus and the Pharisees had a parting of the
ways. This was due largely to his blasphemous insistence
that all men and women
were children of God and must therefore be treated with
compassion and love. This was “SEDITIO” sedition: inciting dissatisfaction amongst those beneath contempt: lepers, the wretched poor, and women. For this they had him crucified. After his death the Apostles continued to preach the immortality and rebirth of the soul for nearly four hundred years. Nowhere is it written that God intends to take his wrath out on sinners in the next life.  Then the
Roman Emperor Constantine, after his conversion to
Christianity (and his subsequent conversion of Christianity
to a predator religion that Jesus would not recognize)
abandoned the concept of reincarnation. Constantine did this when he instigated the “heaven or hell” model that Pagans so soundly disagree with. The problem was that once Constantine insisted that he was “voice of god” and that everyone without exception must do and think exactly what he commanded or burn in hell forever, he had to abolish reincarnation. You can’t very well be burning in hell or receiving your eternal reward and show up alive again in a new body. It was also Constantine who vilified our Horned God as the devil. Jesus, on the other hand, upheld humanity in all its myriad forms and denied the central dogma of Christianity: eternal damnation if you don’t do what the church commands. (see the Gospel of Thomas) In addition, Jesus worked magyc, though Christians prefer the term “miracle” to set him above the other Magi of the age. Many of his spells can be found in The Greek Magical Papyri as detailed in Morton Smith’s book: Jesus the Magician: Charlatan or Son of God? Professor Smith (1915-1991) was no fool but a highly respected academian and translator of numerous ancient texts. Nor are his views in contrary to the writings of Jesus' own disciples who considered him a magician (magi) in the style of the time.  Perhaps he learned magyc while on the
run in Egypt as a youth. No one knows. Nor is it written.
All we know is that when he next appeared in scripture he
could change water into wine. Cool.
 Today the Fundamentalist Christian Church is a bastion of
hell, damnation, and Armageddon, fostering the most heinous
crimes ever committed against humanity. From the Pogroms
of Constantine to the Inquisition (and continuing
persecution of anyone not Christian as exemplified by the
Crusades and the Burning Times) to the present crimes of
child molestation.And while this may have mainly been a Roman Catholic thing, the self appointed evangelicals are not far behind. Only their contemporary inhumanity is more commonplace in its shunning of those not in total agreement that Jesus is everyone’s personal savior. Anyone that believes otherwise is going to hell. Just ask them. However it comes out this is not Jesus’ way. Not really. Jesus was about love and these people are about hate. We, as Pagans are Jesus’ way. As such, we should honor him as a deity.  The only problem I see is that it’s possible that Jesus was a real person. I say “possible” because there isn’t a shred of evidence that Jesus actually existed as a citizen of Judea. All the same, I suspect he lived. I say this because his exploits are far too tame for a created deity. Who knows, perhaps all of our Pagan deities had origins in flesh and blood heroes that became gods as their legend grew. Certainly Jesus is usually revered as a god. And what a perfect deity Jesus is to inspire us: someone we can look up to as a great magycian, healer, and as a God of Love in the Pagan pantheon. We should consider invoking him in our spells. This need take nothing from Christianity. In fact, the whole point of including Jesus as a Pagan deity is to bridge what seems an unfathomable chasm between Paganism and Christianity. Love is the message of Jesus. Finally, in Jesus' own words: "Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all." (see Gospel of Thomasor check out the book The Gnostic Gospel of St. Thomas) |
Question:
so may it be
Reni
