Comments on Zoroastrianism from a Unitarian Christian Perspective

ARTICLE HEADINGS:
Introduction
Source Materials
Basic Zoroastrian Theology
Zoroastrianism and Judaism
Monotheism
The Devil
Hellenism
The Gospels
James, Brother of the Lord
What are we to believe?
Hillel
What is Unitarian Christianity?
Basic Buddhism
More on Zoroastrianism

Introduction

Was Jesus just some Zoroastrian myth or a New Age Buddhist mystic? And why would Jesus as presented in the Bible seem so much like Mithra, Buddha, or Zoroaster? This is a complex issue for Unitarian Christians (and all Christians) to ponder. We are being overrun by the occult, New Age and Eastern Religion, and atheism. It's time we take a hard look beyond the deluge of propaganda and lies. We can't sacrifice ourselves for political correctness or being popular becuase truth is not about popularity. It's time to answer this Jesus question without being popular to anyone.

Source Materials

Most historians believe Jesus did exist. Jesus and His Apostles relied on oral traditions and like many historical figures left no known writings. The gospels were written during or after the Jewish Revolt and the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. According to the Catholic Church, the earliest known copies (other then fragments from the 2nd century, all in Greek) date to the 4th century. The only other known works were discovered in Egypt in the 1940s known as Nag Hammadi Gospels (also copies of earlier works and written in Coptic) dated to the 3-4th centuries. The Dead Sea Scrolls dated to the 1st century and were written Hebrew and Aramaic has no mention of Jesus.

Zoroastrian writings are in the same problem state. Zoroastrians relied on oral tradition as well. Most were written down between the 6th-9th centuries C.E. Some church fathers complained about Zoroastrians not using holy books. These were likely written down to preserve the faith from being totally destroyed by Islam.

Because of the bitter and ongoing war between secular and religious in the West, most source materials are so biased and distorted that one must be careful of their opinions. There's too much secular material out there designed only to destroy Christianity while Christian rejection and attempted suppression of any form of inquiry is all too common. I will rely on mainly Jewish and Zoroastrian sources along with my own analysis. I also make use of the Catholic New American Bible (NAB), which I consider one of the best along with an electronic (with word search) King James. (KJV) All quotes are from the KJV.

Basic Zoroastrian Theology

Zoroastrianism is perhaps the oldest revealed religion. While Zoroastrians today are few in number (less then 200,000), like Judaism their contributions and influence on civilization go far beyond their small numbers. Not only did they influence Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but perhaps Hinduism and Buddhism as well.

Zoroastrianism is known for its monotheism, devil, and separation of material and spiritual worlds. Conservative Zoroastrians assign a date of 6000 BCE to the founding of the religion; other followers estimate 600 BCE. Historians are unsure when Zoroaster lived. Some others claim between 1000-1500 B.C.E. Most scholars' think he was born in present day Iran, others claim Azerbaijan or Nepal. It certainly became corrupted after Zoroaster's death and like Buddhism shared origins with the broad world of Hinduism.

Legends say that his birth was predicted and that attempts were made by the forces of evil to kill him as a child. (Again a similarity with the attempted killing of Jesus tradition and that of the Moses tradition.) He preached monotheism in a land, which followed an aboriginal polytheistic religion. He was attacked for his teaching, but finally won the support of the king. Zoroastrianism became the state religion of various Persian empires, until the 7th Century CE. (www.religioustolerence.org)

The Avesta is attributed directly to Zoroaster and contains the Gathas. They are the divine songs that contain the message of Zoroaster sent by Ahura Mazda (God) Himself to the Aryans. They are poetry - sung by the Prophet of God, praising God. Zoroaster tells us in the Gathas to choose between good and evil.

Ahura Mazda will send the saviors (Saoshyants) who will teach men righteousness and fight evil. The world will be cleansed (with fire) by God, all men and women will be judged, evil destroyed, etc.

Marriage is celebrated very strongly, in particular marriage that produces beautiful children. Unlike Christianity, which considers the pain of childbirth a punishment for sin, this is a celebration of new life, a gift from God.

Fire is worshiped as a symbol of God. (Light)

Ahura Mazda prohibits sexual perversion such homosexuality, prostitution, etc. along with infanticide (abortion) and intermarriage with outsiders. (Non-Zoroastrians) They do not consider non-Zoroastrians as damned nor see conversion to Zoroastrianism as necessary. They don't accept converts; one must be born into it.

Ahura Mazda knew the Devil (Ahriman) would attack the spiritual world (Minoi), so He created the material (Geti) world, then the first man and finally Fire, which entered into the Creation and gave it life.

For the 1st 3000 years, the first man lived a perfect life, worshiped God, etc. Then the devil arose from the darkness and attacked the world and killed everything including the first man. (Zoroastrian time consists of four 3000-year periods before the world ends.)

However, new life arose from the dead. From the body of the slain first man, both man and woman came forth. Man and women were united in divine love. God had brought love and children into the world.

The Devil became trapped in the material world. The battle between good and evil thus goes on until the end time, when God will send His Savior and defeat evil once and for all. This savior will be born of a virgin, but of the lineage of the Prophet Zoroaster who will raise the dead and judge everyone in a final judgment.

These concepts of heaven and hell, of the Saviors to come, the Virgin birth of the final savior, the Final Judgment, the Bathing of the world by Fire, the final battle between good and evil, the final defeat of evil and the resurrection of the dead - these are all Aryan Zoroastrian concepts which filtered down into Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Also from Zoroastrianism would come the Mithra Cult. A worrier god born of a virgin mother, he would become the Roman sun god and the official god of the Roman Empire. Emperor Constantine (baptized on his death bed) would worship this god and seemed to confuse the sun god with the later Son of God. The Christian Virgin Birth story originates with Mithraism and is unsupported in the Old Testament.

Zoroastrianism and Judaism

According to jewishencyclodedia.com (circa 1904) the points of resemblance between Zoroastrianism and Judaism are many and striking as anyone reading the above has noticed. In both faiths God is omniscient, omnipresent, and eternal, and creator of the universe. God operates through and governs the universe with the use of angels and archangels. This presents a parallel to Yahweh that is found in the Old Testament. The Zoroastrianism Spenta Mainyu is the Christian "Holy Spirit."

Ahura Mazda's power is hampered by Ahriman (the Devil) and his host of demons. Their dominion like Satan's will be destroyed at the end of the world. The world is the Devil's domain. The two faiths and Christianity in their eschatological teachings-the doctrines of a regenerate world, a perfect kingdom, the coming of a Messiah, the resurrection of the dead, and the life everlasting are nearly identical.

Both Zoroastrianism and Judaism are revealed religions: in one God imparts his revelation and pronounces his commandments to Zoroaster on "the Mountain of the Two Holy Communing Ones"; in the other Yahweh holds a similar communion with Moses on Sinai.

The Magian laws of purification in the Avestan Vendīdad are as elaborate as the Leviticus code, with which the Zoroastrian book has been compared.

Both are similar in their cosmological ideas. The six days of Creation in Genesis finds a parallel in the six periods of Creation described in the Zoroastrian scriptures. Mankind, according to each religion, is descended from a single couple, and Mashya (man) and Mashyana (women) are the Iranian Adam and Eve. Genesis has two Creation stories; the first man/women is created together, the second we have the Rib tradition.

In the Bible the Flood story is nearly identical to an Avesta winter story.

How did this come to be? It's a historic fact that the Jews and the Persians came in contact with each other. Most scholars believe that Judaism was strongly influenced by Zoroastrianism in views relating to angelology, demonology, and resurrection. Also the monotheistic conception of Yahweh may have been changed or influenced by being opposed to the dualism of the Persians.

There is no devil in Judaism today. There is a fair chance Judaism also influenced Zoroastrianism as well. This is the position of the late James Darmesteter who maintained that early Persian thought was strongly influenced by Jewish ideas and neo-Platonism through the writings of Philo the Jew of Alexandria. I doubt that myself as do others.

The Zoroastrian motto is "Good thoughts, good words, good deeds."

MONOTHEISM

The early Jews were not monotheists, but henotheists or even outright polytheists. They had one central god but believed in other gods. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). This was the tribal god, often bloodthirsty and murderous who not only (they claimed) ordered the killing of women and children including the first born of Egypt. Every tribe seemed to have their own god. This was no God of love or compassion, but a god of survival.

True monotheism would come later. In Isaiah 43:10, "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me..." (KJV)

This servant was Isaiah. Another servant is revealed in Isaiah 44:28, "That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid..."

And this most devastating statement in 45:1, "Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden..." Cyrus was the "anointed" or savior of Israel. Cyrus was a Zoroastrian. With the great Persian King Cyrus we have the first real monotheistic declarations in the Bible. This is the first expression of universalism. Isaiah also first introduces the idea not of false gods, but only one god.

For example we can do word search and terms such "holy ghost" never do appear and Holy Spirit rarely appears in the Old Testament but 89 times in the New Testament. This is an ill-defined form of pseudo-pantheism that may have originated in Zoroastrianism.

God became a universal God of love: good, perfect, more remote, and identical to Ahura Mazda. It would be the missions of Nehemiah and Ezra backed by the Achaemenian (Persian) Imperial Government authority to make the Jews conform to more than the new ideal of monotheism.

Over half a century later we arrive at the Achaemenian King Artaxerxes whose name also appears in Hebrew Scriptures of Ezra (verses 7:7, 7:12). Artaxerxes followed the tradition of benevolence towards the Jews as set by his ancestors. He appointed Nehemiah one of his loyal servants to govern Jerusalem.

Ezra had been born and educated in Babylon and was also sent by Artaxerxes to see if the people of Judea "be agreeable to the law of God" and "to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances" (Ezra 7:10-11), "For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments...Now this is the copy of the letter that the king Artaxerxes gave unto Ezra the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of his statutes to Israel..."

In Ezra 4:7, "And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue..." Everything was being done in Aramaic the official language of this part of the Persian Empire. By the first century when Jesus was born, everyone spoke Aramaic while Greek had become the language of commerce. Hebrew had been relegated to the Temple.

There are explicit indications of widespread religious conversion in Ezra 6:19-21 and Nehemiah 10:28-29, but why would Jews have to convert to Judaism? Nehemiah, chapter 8, discusses an event where Ezra read from the book of law which neither Hebrew speakers nor Aramaic speakers could understand - the words had to be translated by priests.

Ezra's major reform was the prohibition of foreign wives. Although marrying foreign wives had always been the most favored Jewish practice (including Moses), such marriages violate Zoroastrian law. The reality is better expressed in Judges 3:5-6, "And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites: And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons..." There is no proof of any mass slaughter in Canaan and the "other gods" may have been edited in later.

When the Babylonians conquered Judah, they exiled the royal family, aristocrats, and upper classes. Most of the common people were left behind. When the 40,000 or so returned (many stayed behind in Babylon), they rejected those they found that had intermarried with others. They still considered themselves Jews. Nonetheless, the returning exiled Jews separated themselves from others who became the Samaritans. Strife began at once and divided the nation.

We are told Nehemiah, who followed the Zoroastrian purity code rigidly, was responsible for the transition of the Jewish purity code. The purity laws were no longer restricted to the Temple, but had to be exercised in 'the fields, the kitchen, the bed and the street (Boyce, History of Zoroastrianism Vol. II, p. 190). Others claim Ezra also introduced the new festival of booths (Nehemiah 8:13) in the seventh month, which was the Zoroastrian holiday of Ayathrem.

The Persian King Darius is our hero in the Book of Daniel.

Sometime around or after 400 B.C.E. the Old Testament was put in written form while Jerusalem was still under the control of the Persians. This seems to make sense and one can bet it fit the official version of events, but as usual scholars can't agree.

Jews did keep circumcision, which doesn't exist in Zoroastrianism.

To summarize this section, Judaism was influenced by Zoroastrianism and in my opinion both were close enough to exchange ideas. Judaism became true universal monotheism while rejecting the Devil. Some individual sects such as the Essenes accepted the devil. This sect seems to be the closest to that preached by John the Baptist and Jesus.

Timeline

         GALILEE       SAMARIA        JUDAH
1050BC?                Canaanites     Saul
1000BC?   David        David          David
 937BC?   Israel       Israel         Judah
 722BC:   Assyria      Assyria        independent
 586BC:                               Babylonia
 520BC:   Persia       Persia         Persia

THE DEVIL

There is no devil in Judaism and never was. The term "devil" doesn't exist in the Old Testament. The term Satan appears 13 times in the Old Testament mainly in Job and in every case is a servant of God. But written in the late post-exile book of Zechariah 3:2, "And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" This is as close to conflict as they come. The term Lucifer₁ (light bearer) occurs only in Isaiah 14:12, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" and refers to a fallen Babylonian king.

The New Testament is another matter. Satan appears 34 times while devil appears 57 times both used in the same context. No doubt Christianity is dualistic just like Zoroastrianism. Judaism did produce two dualistic cults: the apocalyptic sect that gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Gnostics that gave us many of the Nag Hammadi Gospels. Both were brooding, angry belief systems that saw the world and flesh as evil and sought to destroy it to bring on some Kingdom of God in one form or another. Christianity was influenced by the Essenes and the Gnostics through the Apostles John and Paul.

The devil (Ahriman) was an evil spirit in Zoroastrianism and some claim that by the third century C.E., Zoroaster's monotheism was replaced with dualism in some areas. Manicheans developed from the Gnostic teachings of Mani, who taught that the flesh is evil and the spirit is good. He advocated denying the flesh to free the spirit and had an influence on early Christian saints in particular St. Augustine. Augustine was the father of Protestantism.

HELLENISM

Israel had been under Persian rule from 520 B.C.E. until Alexander the Great defeated them in 332 B.C.E. The close, friendly relationship with Persia had lasted for 188 years. Alexander died soon after the conquest of Persia; his empire fell apart and was divided between his bickering generals. One part would become Ptolemy Egypt, the other Seleucid Syria. Israel was caught not only in a power struggle between the two Greek powers, but a culture war within itself.

         GALILEE       SAMARIA        JUDAH
 520BC:  Persia        Persia        Persia
 332BC:  Macedonia     Macedonia     Macedonia
 323BC:  Seleucids?    Ptolemies     Ptolemies
 200BC:  Seleucids     Seleucids     Seleucids
 142BC:                              independent
 134BC:                              Seleucids
 129BC:   Judah        Judah         independent

The Galilee had been seized from the Syrians and itself forcibly converted to Judaism only around 103BC, the Maccabees viewing this as a rightful restoration of part of the ancient kingdom of Israel, wiped out by the Assyrians six centuries earlier. This forced conversion also occurred in the south with Idumeans and Arabs.

1 and 2 Maccabees were removed by Protestants but retained by Catholics and the Orthodox. As stated in the New American Bible, this war of independence wasn't just about foreign rule, but about those Jews embracing Hellenism. In reality Maccabees is more about a civil war between Orthodox and Hellenistic Judaism. There never was a single Judaism in the 1st century as Christians try to pretend.

In particular educated Jews were attracted to Greek language, philosophy, science, and astrology. They wanted to join the rest of the world and go beyond the cloistered and isolated world of Orthodox/Pharisee Rabbis. They wanted to join the Greek world; the Maccabee victory in 129 put a check on the advance of Hellenism.

But outside Israel in the Diaspora the opposite happened. Jews weren't under the control of the Temple. They didn't isolate themselves from the world and they sought converts.

Many pagans were attracted to Judaism for its moral values on family, social welfare, and monotheism of a caring God. Jews assimilated Greek science, reason, philosophy, and language into a more universal vision of One God.

They were so successful that by Jesus' time the Roman Empire had between 8-10 percent of the population was Jewish. In Alexandria a city of one million, there were 300,000 Jews. Only two million Jews lived in Israel, five million outside including over a million in Babylon alone. They were causing real fears for both the Romans and later Christians. It's theorized by Leeds scholar Hyam Maccoby that Rome triggered the Jewish revolts in 68 and 135 (Bar Kochma Revolt) as an excuse to crush Judaism, I question this myself. Judaism was a protected and recognized faith in the Roman Empire. Christians later outlawed conversion to Judaism and stripped Judaism of its legal status after they gained control. There were a lot of Jews in Arabia and Persia before being exterminated by Islam.

For more on this fascinating subject, read the book The Sacred Chain, the History of the Jews by Norman F. Cantor.

Rome had defeated the Maccabees in 63BC and returned much of Samaria to Syria now itself under Roman control. The Galilee was left under Hyrcanus II, whom the Romans demoted from king to 'ethnarch.'

Herod was another problem. His first act as governor was to crush a band of Jewish nationalists fighting to reclaim some of their lost territory east of Galilee. Their leader Hezekiah was executed, Herod efficiently hunted his followers down. He also faced down the Jewish court in Jerusalem when they accused him of executing Jews without a trial. Herod maintained this ruthless grip on power with the help of a secret police force. Those who caused trouble quietly disappeared. Herod (or his family) was a convert to Judaism and hated for it.

But after Herod's death this same Hezekiah's son rose up for a long-delayed revenge and captured (briefly) the Galilean capital of Sepphoris from Herod's son Antipas. Roman troops from the north razed Sepphoris.

         GALILEE      SAMARIA        JUDAH
 129BC:  Judah        Judah          independent
  63BC:  Rome         Rome           Rome
  47BC:  Herod        Hyrcanus       Hyrcanus
  42BC:  Herod        Herod          Hyrcanus
  40BC:  Parthia      Parthia        Parthia
  37BC:  Herod        Herod          Herod
   4BC:  Antipas      Archelaus      Archelaus
   7AD:  Antipas      procurators    procurators
  25AD:  Antipas      Pilate         Pilate

Sepphoris is very important to Jesus. Only about three miles from Nazareth, the city was rebuilt between 10-30 C.E. Here would be steady work for a carpenter (some say stone mason) and his son. There Jesus would have been exposed to Greek culture and language. He would have learned Greek and been exposed to other religions because Greco-Roman cities had large degrees of religious freedom something that the Maccabees (like all fundamentalists) attempted to stamp out. Jesus' mother Mary was supposed to be from Sepphoris.

Further note that while Jesus left no writing Himself doesn't mean He couldn't read. Writing materials were very expensive but that didn't keep Him from reading the Torah or learning to read Greek or some other language. Greek was the language of commerce; Aramaic was the everyday language while Hebrew (or Aramaic) would have been the language of the Torah.

Nazareth was on the fringes of Hellenistic and Orthodox Judaism. Jesus would have been exposed to other cultures and not isolated as many like to pretend. He wouldn't have any need to go to India or anywhere else to be exposed to Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, or Greek philosophy. Many of his sayings are somewhat like those of the Jewish Sage Hillel (died circa 10 C.E.?) who came from Babylon and himself a brilliant man and popular with his fellow Jews.

THE GOSPELS

Luke/Acts was a single work called Acts of the Apostles. Luke was a Gentile convert and the "beloved physician" of Paul. (Colossians 4:14) Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:11, "Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry." He never met Jesus but did make an attempt at a historical narrative. Luke has 18 parables of which only 2 matches Mark or Matthew. Mark also has 20 miracle stories of which half match Mark and Matthew. Like Matthew, Luke has a virgin birth story but contradicts Matthew in genealogy.

Mark was another companion of Paul. According to the New American Bible Mark was the first Gospel written and is the shortest. Most disturbing is the earliest copies of Mark end with an empty tomb and had no resurrection story. Luke also knew Mark. His surname was John (Acts 12:12, 12:25, 15:37) and he went on missions with Saul/Paul but had a falling out. (Acts 15:37-39) Paul confirmed knowing Mark. (Colossians 4:14) There is also no virgin birth story. Mark has only 4 parables and 20 miracle stories.

Matthew has 15 parables concerning Jesus' life in Galilee and the Passion. Matthew also has a virgin birth story, but conflicting genealogy with Luke. We also have 21 miracle stories. Matthew doesn't mention Mark, Luke, or Saul/Paul and himself only in passing the same way Luke and Mark do. I doubt he is the Matthew mentioned in the Gospels.

John is a pseudo-Gnostic work written in Ephesus (modern Turkey) around 90 C.E. It's also the most anti-Semitic like all Gnostics using terms such as "the Jews' 65 times. Here we find no parables and only 8 miracle stories of which only 2 match anything in Matthew, Mark or Luke and the only place where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. (John 11:1)

Here we have the fully blown platonic Logos (Word) a spiritual Christ. It's loaded with Greek philosophy for a Greek audience. Here we have the Buddhist style philosopher.

Like all Gnostics the writer has a brooding and angry outlook on the world. Gnosticism combines Buddhist style transcendentalism, Zoroastrianism, and Greek philosophy such as Platonism.

A British scholar of Buddhism, Edward Conze, suggests Buddhism was in the West at that time. Trade routes between the Greco-Roman world and the Far East were opening up at the time when Gnosticism exploded (A.D. 80-200); for generations, Buddhist missionaries had been proselytizing in Alexandria. They certainly could have been in Sepphoris and Babylonia.

Hippolytus was a Greek speaking Christian in Rome (c. 225), knows of the Indian Brahmins and includes their tradition among the sources of heresy:

"There is . . . among the Indians a heresy of those who philosophize among the Brahmins, who live a self-sufficient life, abstaining from (eating) living creatures and all cooked food . . . They say that God is light, not like the light one sees, nor like the sun nor fire, but to them God is discourse, not that which finds expression in articulate sounds, but that of knowledge (gnosis) through which the secret mysteries of nature are perceived by the wise."

Gnosticism is an esoteric cult of divine knowledge (a synthesis Greek philosophy, Hinduism, Buddhism, and the mystery cults of the Mediterranean), which predates Christianity.

Gnostic 4th-century codices discovered in Egypt in the 1940s include the Gospel of St Thomas and the Gospel of Mary, probably originating about AD 135. Gnosticism envisaged the world as a series of emanations from the highest of several gods. The lowest emanation was an evil god (the demiurge) who created the material world as a prison for the divine sparks that dwell in human bodies. The Gnostics identified this evil creator with the God of the Old Testament, and saw the Adam and Eve story and the ministry of Jesus as attempts to liberate humanity from his dominion, by imparting divine secret wisdom.

The writer of John never mentions Matthew, Mark, Luke, or Saul/Paul. But Paul was the founder of that church at Ephesus.

Paul was a pseudo-Gnostic and while he didn't preach "secret knowledge" as salvation, through the belief in a "Christ" (Greek for "anointed one") he does claims we need the Platonic intermediary deity. Paul was also influenced by the mysteries: "And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2)

Quoting Will Durant's The Age of Faith comments on the Trinity in regards to Nicaea and the 4th century, "Neoplatonism was still a power in religion and philosophy. Those doctrines which Plotinus had given a shadowy form of a triune spirit binding all reality, of a Logos or intermediary deity who had done the work of creation, of soul as divine and matter as flesh and evil, of spheres of existence along whose invisible stairs the soul had fallen from God to man and might extend from man to God. These mystic ideas left their mark on the apostles John and Paul..." (P 9)

Christianity is not about Jesus the man that preached an enlightened form of Judaism; it's about a Gnostic Christ Paul saw in a vision. (Acts 9) That "vision" had nothing to do with the Jesus of the Galilee or God. Paul as a Diaspora Jew was exposed to Greek philosophy (He wrote only in Greek) and he originated in Tarsus, a center for the pagan mystery religions.

JAMES, BROTHER OF THE LORD

Of all the Gospel writers, only James would have known Jesus in the flesh. Paul calls him "the Lord's brother." (Galatians 1:19) Paul also calls James a "pillar" of the Church. (Galatians 2:9) But Paul, apostle to the Gentiles, even in Galatians was having problems with James, "James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision." (Galatians 2:12)

Paul tries to make it out that James was in fear of fellow Jews. But Luke, the author of Acts, tells a different story. Luke reveals James was in the Jewish mainstream including joining with high Jewish officials, "and the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present." (Acts 21:18) It was Paul in conflict with both James who headed Jesus' church after his death and Judaism in general.

In the Gospel of James we have no Zoroastrian end-times ravings or Gnostic/Buddhist transcendentalism. No magic tricks, miracles, or worshiping Jesus as God. He contradicts Paul's faith alone claims, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:19-20) This sent Martin Luther into a rage.

Acts 15:2 further states, "Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question."

Paul had been a failure with Jews (as recorded in Acts) even with the Hellenistic Jews of Greece and Asia Minor while Jesus' Church under James was part of and accepted in the Jewish mainstream in Jerusalem. Paul only found converts among Gentiles that didn't know Judaism. Acts not only introduces Paul into the picture, but also ends with his arrest for guest what, breaking Jewish Law. He was a Roman citizen and tradition says he dies in Rome around 64 C.E. and his epistles date between 50-64 C.E. James died on the Temple steps during a riot around 51 C.E. and his epistle dates around that time in reaction to Paul.

The Bible is from the view of Paul, the founder of Pauline Christianity, the one we have today. The Church didn't want the real Jesus a probable Jewish rebel, but Paul's Gnostic Christ and his calls for obeying earthly authority.

WHAT ARE WE TO BELIEVE?

16th century Unitarianism was a product of the Renaissance where learning and exposure to Greek philosophy and history once again became available. Not only could the individual read the Bible themselves, but also became aware of what I just went through. There is much truth in the Bible if we learn to read it in a rational manner. Here is my view on the subject.

Paul never met Jesus so both him and his epistles are useless. He produced his own religion based on Gnosticism and bits and pieces of Eastern Religion and Platonism. He like many Gnostics thought "flesh" was evil and had a very negative view of humanity. He wrote only in Greek and was a product of Greek culture.

Much of John is also a Gnostic/Eastern view and is anti-Semitic. It's late date of writing and heavy use of Greek philosophy makes it certain not to have been authored by a Galilean fisherman named John. I consider it useless.

Of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus' message is in His parables and Sermon on the Mount. His audience was Jewish, but could apply to anyone. He put more emphasis on moral conduct and works than Jewish Law. He never said do away with the Law for Jews and the Law never applied to Gentiles to begin with. For Gentiles, even under Judaism, moral conduct and belief in God is all we need. The story should end with an empty tomb and a mystery just as the writer of Mark left it.

The claims of miracle stories were nonsense produced by the evangelists to promote belief. Magic sells then just as it sells today.

James presents the probable view that Jesus was in the Jewish mainstream. He didn't need to go to India or other nonsense because He could find the basis of his teaching there at home. The Galilee was on the border of Orthodox and Hellenistic Judaism. This India nonsense is the attempt of occultists and New Age types trying to recast a Jew into the form of a New Age Mystic.

Jesus was crucified by the Romans for sedition just like many others were. Crucifixion was reserved for state crimes against Rome and not for common thieves that would have been handled under local laws. The mere claim in any manner of being "King of the Jews" was a death sentence. If Jesus had been guilty of blasphemy, under Jewish law he would have been stoned.

Jesus believed in God the Father and prayed to Him, not to Himself. He was not divine. He believed in a God of love, not the violent tribal god. Be believed in heaven and an afterlife, and in demons and devils just like most people of those times.

Jesus was not perfect, but He showed how to live and that we are all just human. His teaching and Commandments can be summed up in his own words,

And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

"And Jesus said unto him, Why call me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lack: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." (Mark 10:17-21)

Nothing about "faith alone" and He denies being God. Any person that uses their God-given reason can follow this. In Matthew 7:7, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: or every one that ask receive; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened..." You have every right to ask and question.

How does Jesus sum up the whole Bible? "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets."

What is it you do not understand?

Hillel

Rabbi Hillel was born to a wealthy family in Babylonia, but came to Jerusalem without the financial support of his family and supported himself as a woodcutter. It is said that he lived in such great poverty that he was sometimes unable to pay the admission fee to study Torah, and because of him that fee was abolished. He was known for his kindness, his gentleness, and his concern for humanity.

The Talmud tells that a gentile came to Rabbi Shammai saying that he would convert to Judaism if he could teach him the whole Torah in the time that he could stand on one foot. Shammai drove him away with a builder's measuring stick! Hillel, on the other hand, converted the gentile by telling him, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary. Go and study it."

What is Unitarian Christianity?

Our basic beliefs are:

God is one. We are strict monotheists believing in a single loving God. Unitarians adopted the scientific world-view believing in addition that a conscious spirit is working behind evolutionary events. Our founders during the Protestant Reformation were often scientists, doctors and men of learning.

Mankind is God's most noble creature, with the faculties of reason and awareness. We reject the absurd notion of Original Sin. We take a positive view of humanity as being able to solve our problems if we so choose. God gave us the ability (absolute free will) to determine our own path.

Jesus was a man. Jesus was a Jewish religious teacher, prophet, and regarded by Unitarians as an example to follow, a master of religious and ethical life in teaching and acting. Jesus is our guide, not some mindless object of worship. Jesus never mentioned Adam, Eve, or the Garden of Eden.

The Bible is a collection of man-created writings, including teachings of Jewish and Christian teachers, historical accounting and literature. These works were inspired by God, but we are not to forget that this inspiration was grasped by those who lived long-long time ago in a certain historical time and place. We place reason over blind belief in revelation. The most valuable part of the Bible is the New Testament, in particular the four gospels, where you can learn about Jesus' life and teachings. I would also include Acts and James.

Basic Buddhism

Unlike Zoroastrianism, Buddhism takes a very negative worldview that's irrational and attempts to escape reality:

The Four Noble Truths
1. All worldly life is unsatisfactory, disjointed, containing suffering.
2. There is a cause of suffering, which is attachment or desire rooted in ignorance.
3. There is an end of suffering, which is Nirvana.
4. There is a path that leads out of suffering, known as the Noble Eightfold Path.
1. Right Understanding
2. Right Thought
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

The Five Precepts
1. I refrain from harming living creatures (killing).
2. I refrain from taking that which is not given (stealing).
3. I refrain from sexual misconduct.
4. I refrain from incorrect speech (lying, harsh language, slander, idle chit-chat).
5. I refrain from intoxicants which lead to carelessness.

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama who lived between approximately 563 and 483 BCE about the time of the Persian Empire. Originating in India, Buddhism gradually spread throughout Asia.

Lucifer Septuagint translation of "Helel [read "Helal"] ben Sha'ar" (= "the brilliant one," "son of the morning"), name of the day, or morning, star, to whose mythical fate that of the King of Babylon is compared in the prophetic vision (Isa. xiv. 12-14). It is obvious that the prophet in attributing to the Babylonian king boastful pride, followed by a fall, borrowed the idea from a popular myth. To me that king fell to Cyrus. Christians mixed this into the Zoroastrian Devil just like they did Satan.

• Saint Augustine and the Western Christian World-View
• Augustine [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
• Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity
• Judaism Meets Zoroastrianism
• Zoroastrianism from a Unitarian Christian Perspective
• Apostle Paul Founder of Christianity
• The Theology of Paul
• The Problem of Paul
• Paul's Bungling Attempt At Sounding Pharisaic
• Review of Paul and Hellenism by Hyam Maccoby
• Paul the Apostle and Salvation Thru Faith
• Pelagius

• Notes on Neoplatonism
• Early Christian and Medieval Neoplatonism
• Sufism as seen by Muslim Fundamentalists
• Pelagius: To Demetrias, why he was cleared of heresy
• Pelagius: Chapters
• Pelagius and why he was right.
• How Christianity drew on Philo's synthesis of Judaism and Hellenism