Jesus Wasn't Christian
I am most likely to upset quite a few people with just the title of this post but I hope you stick around and read until the end.
It should go without saying that I am not Christian. However, I was raised in the Greek Orthodox Catholic church from about age 4 until about 13ish. I have also tried to expose myself to as many religions as I can in an attempt to gain understanding of my own spirituality. This includes many of the forms of Christianity.
Though much of this post is based on factual data that I have gathered over the years, it is just an opinion. I am not telling anyone to do anything, just offering my perspective on Jesus and Christianity.
So, as this heading states let’s start off with the fact that Jesus was not Christian, how could he have been since Christianity did not form until about mid way through his life. Even so, Jesus would most likely have only been a temporary symbol of the religion if it had not been twisted and reinterpreted for the benefit of the autocracy. Before this time it was an obscure offshoot of Judaism.
Yes, explanation is on the way.
Do We Really Know Who Jesus Was?
This is a question that most forms of Christianity do not allow you to ask, or if you do ask it you are given an answer that is derived from their faith, not facts.
A number of years ago I stumbled upon a very revealing book called The Lost Gospel of Q: The Book of Q and Christian Origins by Burton L. Mack. Sadly, I loaned my copy to a friend and they did not return it before they passed on from our existence but I do plan on obtaining another copy to reference when needed.
This book reveals a lot of the discrepancies in the Bible, especially those pertaining to the person we know as Jesus of Nazareth. I encourage you to read this book at your convenience.
Some of what I learned from the book above and other reading is that Jesus, the person, was not the pure of heart person that many forms of Christianity make him out to be. Indeed, he was very synical and at times rude in order to get his point across. However, Jesus was quite revolutionary and saw the need for changes in the world he lived in and he did so through common tasks.
Breaking Down Christ and Christianity
A common misconception is that Christ is the last name for Jesus of Nazareth. In reality, no one actually knows if he had a surname and Christ is actually a title. In fact, Christian is a combination of a title and suffix from Greek.
The suffix ian means from or related to and the title Christ means anointed one. So, the term Christian means from or related to the anointed one and at the time Christians decided that Jesus of Nazareth was the anointed one, thus calling him Jesus Christ.
This makes me wonder if the Anointed One could change over time.
The Bible
We can’t have a discussion about Christianity and Jesus without talking, at least a little bit, about the bible.
I have a lot of issues with this book, but that is for another post.
The New Testament as we know the current Christian bible did not exist during the time that Jesus of Nazareth walked among us. In fact the earliest gospel in it was written over 200 years after Jesus left this existence. This is not to say that no one was writing about their experience with Jesus, but so far nothing written has been discovered, or so the Church leads us to believe.
When you think about it, the entire bible is just interpretation after interpretation, translation after translation. Because of this there is much of the bible that has been altered to fit the church and autocracy of the time. Heck, what a better way to control large groups of people that work pretty much for free than by using their religion against them?
Over the centuries the bible has been modified. Sometimes for accuracy, but mostly to change wording to better suit the views of those using this book as canon law to govern over their people.
With much of the bible being used to “Lord” over people can it still be considered the book of the Anointed One? I guess that depends on who the Anointed One is, wouldn’t it?
Do You Need to be Christian?
I hope you made it this far because now we need to discuss the question, do you need to be Christian?
This is something you need to ask yourself and come up with the answer on your own. Consider what it means to be Christian and if you are being controlled by the church or allowing your faith to guide you to being a good human being.
I believe that Jesus of Nazareth did some really great things in his time. Much of what I have learned about him causes me to have a lot of respect for him, but if I have learned anything about him it is that the last thing he would want is for people to idolize him.
There is so much more information that is coming about from archaeological digs and more accurate translation of languages that have not been spoken in centuries. The Church does not want you to find out about these as they undermine their power and control over the followers of their religion.
So, my answer to this question is yes. It takes a little more effort, but if you read more of the factual information that is being discovered you may just find that you can continue to follow this path. You do not need a church or priest to do this, only information and your own willingness to be decent to the other beings that we share this planet with. Afterall, that is pretty much what Jesus attempted to teach so many centuries ago.