3.    Cause of death: Beheaded

4.    Ethnicity: Jewish

5.    Occupation: Priest, healer and baptizer.

John was born around the same time as Jesus; some gospels have it about 6 months before others a year before. John’s mother, Elizabeth was visited by an angel and told she would have a son and she must call him John (Yohannan), a common name in that part of the world at that time and he would belong to God for all his life. This was exactly the same message that was given to the mother of Sampson, Jesus and others. John became a very influential priest and prophet. Yes he was a priest; he was not just some random guy going around baptizing people. It is said that he lived in a cave in the desert and survived on locusts and wild honey, wore a camel hair garment and preached the word of God.

What is not generally known is that he also performed miracles and had a following of many thousands. The clothes he wore were consistent with the robes of a “country” priest and the local King himself was quite a follower. Yes Herod himself often came to listen to John’s preaching, even though John would turn on Herod and his so called incestuous marriage to Herodias. Herod liked him. Herodias hated him. It was Herodias that eventually tricked Herod into executing him. Many people at that time thought John was the messiah and after he was beheaded, Herod, upon hearing about Jesus thought Jesus was John the Messiah raised from the dead as prophesised. The Old Testament prophesy of the coming of the messiah was fulfilled by John as much as it was by Jesus in the minds of many people at that time as it was by Moses and many others.

4

Jesus of Nazareth (Yehoshua, Yeshua or Y’shua)

1.    Born: 7–2 BC (some historians say it was 16^th April 6 BC) in Bethlehem, Judea, (traditional); Nazareth, Galilee (according to some historians) To: Joseph a carpenter or The Holy Spirit and Mary

2.    Died: 26–30 AD Calvary, Judea, Roman Empire. (according to some historians in England, Scotland, or France, etc)

3.    Cause of death: Crucifixion (Some scholars dispute the Gospel claim that Jesus was crucified and think he was hanged. Many dispute that he was executed at all.)

4.    Ethnicity: Jewish

5.    Occupation: Carpenter, Rabbi, healer

Jesus is a transliteration, occurring in a number of languages and based on the Latin Iesus, which was based on the Greek Iēsoûs, itself a Hellenisation of the Hebrew Yehoshua or Hebrew-Aramaic Yeshua. Yeshua directly translated into English is Joshua. So the real English name should be Joshua.

“Christ” is a title derived from the Greek Christós, meaning the “Anointed One”, a translation of the Hebrew-derived “Messiah” A "Messiah" is a king anointed at God's direction or with God's approval, and Christians identify Jesus as the one foretold by Hebrew prophets.

Scholars do not know the exact year or date of Jesus' birth or death. The Gospel of Matthew places Jesus' birth under the reign of Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC, and the Gospel of Luke describes the birth as taking place during the first census of the Roman provinces of Syria and Judea in 6 BC. Scholars generally assume a date of birth between 6 and 4 BC. (Most accept that it was more likely to be 6 BC). Due to a fourth century arrangement to offset the pagan Roman Saturnalia festival, the birth of Jesus is celebrated on December 25^th even though it is now thought that he was born in April, probably about the 16^th. Since the thirteenth century, the celebration of Christmas ("Christ's Mass") has become an important Christian tradition. The common Western standard for numbering years, in which the current year is 2009, is based on an early medieval attempt to count the years from Jesus' birth. If that count had been accurate 2009 would become 2015.

Jesus' ministry followed that of John the Baptist. The Gospels, Josephus, and Tacitus name Pontius Pilate as the Roman prefect who had Jesus crucified, and Pilate was prefect of Judea between 26 and 36 AD Most Christians commemorate Jesus' crucifixion on Good Friday and celebrate his resurrection on Easter Sunday. These days coincide with the Jewish celebration of Passover.

Of the four gospels, only Matthew and Luke give accounts of Jesus' genealogy. The accounts in the two gospels are substantially different, and contemporary scholars generally view the genealogies as theological constructs. More specifically, some have suggested that Matthew wants to underscore birth of a messianic child of royal lineage (mentioning Solomon) whereas Luke's genealogy is priestly (mentioning Levi). Both accounts trace his line back to King David and from there to Abraham. These lists are identical between Abraham and David, but they differ between David and Joseph. Matthew starts with Solomon and proceeds through the kings of Judah to the last king, Jeconiah. After Jeconiah, the line of kings terminated when Babylon conquered Judah. Thus, Matthew shows Jesus as a descendant of the kings of Israel. Luke's genealogy is longer than Matthew's; it goes back to Adam and provides more names between David and Jesus.

Joseph (Yoseph), husband of Mary (Maryam), appears in descriptions of Jesus' childhood. No mention, however, is made of Joseph during the ministry of Jesus, therefore it is assumed that Joseph died sometime between 9 – 22 AD when Jesus was between 15 and 28 years old.

The New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Galatians tell of Jesus' relatives, including his brothers and sisters. Indeed, his brother James became the one to establish the church. Luke also mentions that Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, was a cousin of Mary, which would make John a second cousin of Jesus.

Mark says that Jesus came to "give his life as a ransom for many"; Luke, that he was sent to "preach the good news of the Kingdom of God", and John, that he came so that "those who believed would have eternal life".

Scholars have used the historical method to develop probable reconstructions of Jesus' life. Over the past two hundred years, the image of Jesus among historical scholars has come to be very different from the common image of Jesus that was based on the gospels. Scholars of historical Jesus distinguish their subject from the “Jesus” of Christianity. The principal sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the gospels, especially the synoptic gospels: Mark, Matthew, and Luke. Including the Gospels, there are no surviving historical accounts of Jesus written during his life or within three decades of his crucifixion. Biblical scholars and historians accept the historical existence of Jesus, as do most other religions.

Scholars have examined the gospels and tried to formulate historical biographies of Jesus. Contemporary efforts benefit from a better understanding of 1st-century Judaism, renewed Roman Catholic biblical scholarship, broad acceptance of critical historical methods, sociological insights, and literary analysis of Jesus' sayings.

Historians analyze the gospels to try to discern the historical man on whom these stories are based. They compare what the gospels say to historical events relevant to the times and places where the gospels were written. They try to answer historical questions about Jesus, such as why, or if, he was crucified.

Most scholars agree the Gospel of Mark was written about the time of the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans under Titus in the year 70 AD, and that the other gospels were written between 70–300 AD. The historical outlook on Jesus relies on critical analysis of the Bible, especially the gospels. Many scholars have sought to reconstruct Jesus' life in terms of the political, cultural, and religious crises and movements in late Second Temple Judaism and in Roman-occupied Palestine, including differences between Galilee and Judea, and between different sects such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots, and in terms of conflicts among Jews in the context of Roman occupation.

Historians generally describe Jesus as a healer who preached the restoration of God's kingdom. Many historians agree he was baptized by John the Baptist, and some that he was executed by the Romans either by crucifixion or hanging.

Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem were wary of Galilean patriots, many of whom advocated or launched violent resistance to Roman rule. The gospels demonstrate that Jesus, a charismatic leader regarded as a potential troublemaker, may have been executed on political charges.

John the Baptist led a large apocalyptic movement. He demanded repentance and baptism. Jesus was baptized and later began his ministry. After John was executed, most of his followers apparently took Jesus as their new leader. Historians are nearly unanimous in accepting Jesus' baptism as a historical event.

Jesus placed a special emphasis on God as everyone’s heavenly father.

Jesus lived in Galilee for most of his life and spoke Aramaic and possibly Hebrew and some Greek and perhaps understood some Latin. The name "Jesus" comes from an alternate spelling of the Latin Iēsus which in turn comes from the Greek name Iesous. In the Septuagint Iesous is used as the Greek version of the Hebrew name Yehoshua, in the Biblical book of the same name, usually Romanized as Joshua. Some scholars believe that one of these was likely the name that Jesus was known by during his lifetime by his peers. Thus, the name has been translated into English as "Joshua" and not Jesus.

Christ is an Anglicization of the Greek term Kristos. this term is used as the translation of the Hebrew: messiah, "Anointed One" in reference to priests (e.g. Leviticus 4:3-5) and kings (e.g. King David (2 Samuel 23:1) and King Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1). In Isaiah and Jeremiah the word began to be applied to a future ideal king. The New Testament used the word kristos applied to Jesus, used either generically or in an absolute sense, namely as the Anointed One (the Messiah, the Christ). The Gospel of Mark has as its central point of its narrative Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah (Mark 8:29). 1 Corinthians 15:3 indicates that the conviction that Jesus was the Messiah dates back to before the letters of Paul the Apostle. These letters also show that the title was already beginning to be used as a name.

Some have suggested that other titles applied to Jesus in the New Testament had meanings in the first century quite different from those meanings ascribed today.

The titles "Divine", "Son of God", "God", "God from God", "Lord", "Redeemer", "Liberator", "The Prince of Peace", "The Wonder Counsellor", and "Saviour of the World" were each applied to the Roman emperors. Some historians consider that the application of them to Jesus by the early Christians would have been regarded as denying them to the emperor(s). They were taking the identity of the Roman emperor and giving it to a Jewish peasant. Either that was a peculiar joke and a very low lampoon, or it was what the Romans called majestas and we call high treason.

It has been argued that "Son of man" was not a title but rather the polite way in which people referred to themselves, i.e. a pronominal phrase.

"Son of David" is found elsewhere in Jewish tradition to refer to the heir to the throne.

"Son of God" was often used to designate a person as especially righteous, such as a high priest or a highly thought of rabbi.

"Emmanuel" or "Immanuel" derives from the Hebrew name Immanu-El, which translates as "God (is) with us" and is based on a Messianic interpretation of a verse in the Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 7:14, "They shall call his name Immanuel".

New Testament scholars will state that Jesus himself made no claims to being God. Although Christians identified Jesus as divine from about the 4^th century, although holding a variety of views as to what exactly this implied.

Various early Christian groups and theologians held differing views of Jesus. The Ebionites, an early Jewish Christian community, believed that Jesus was the last of the prophets and the Messiah. They believed that Jesus was the natural-born son of Mary and Joseph, and thus they rejected the Virgin Birth. The Ebionites were adoptionists, believing that Jesus was not divine, but became the son of God at his baptism. Ebionites were vegetarian and considered both Jesus and John the Baptist to have been vegetarians.

In Gnosticism, Jesus is said to have brought the secret knowledge (gnosis) of the spiritual world necessary for salvation. Their secret teachings were paths to gnosis, and not gnosis itself. Gnostics believed that Jesus was a human who became possessed by the spirit of God during his baptism. Some Gnostics believed that Jesus had a twin sister named Sophia. The Gnostics tended to interpret the books that were included in the New Testament as allegory, and some Gnostics interpreted Jesus himself as an allegory. The Gnostics also used a number of other texts that did not become part of the New Testament canon.

Marcionites were 2nd century Gentile followers of the Christian theologian Marcion of Sinope. They believed that Jesus rejected the Jewish Scriptures, or at least the parts that were incompatible with his teachings. Marcionism was declared a heresy by Orthodox Christianity.

Sabellius in the 3rd century taught that the Trinity represented not three persons but a single person in three "modes".

Islam holds Jesus to be a prophet, or messenger of God, along with Muhammad, Moses, Abraham, Noah, and others. In particular, Jesus (Arabic: Īsā) is described as the Messiah, sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new scripture, the Injīl (gospel). According to the Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be God's final revelation, Jesus was born to Mary (Arabic: Maryam) as the result of virginal conception, a miraculous event which occurred by the decree of God (Arabic: Allah). To aid him in his quest, Jesus was given the ability to perform miracles. These included curing the blind and the lepers, as well as raising the dead; all by the permission of God. Furthermore, Jesus was helped by a band of disciples. Islam rejects historians’ assertions that Jesus was crucified by the Romans, instead claiming that he had been raised alive up to heaven. Islamic traditions narrate that he will return to earth near the day of judgement to restore justice and defeat al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl ("the false messiah", also known as the Antichrist) and the enemies of Islam. As a just ruler, Jesus will then die.

Like all prophets in Islam, Jesus is considered to have been a Muslim, as he preached for people to adopt the straight path in submission to God's will. Islam denies that Jesus was God or the son of God, stating that he was an ordinary man who, like other prophets, had been divinely chosen to spread God's message. Islamic texts forbid the association of partners with God, emphasizing the notion of God's divine oneness. As such, Jesus is referred to in the Qur'an frequently as the "son of Mary" ("Ibn Maryam"). Numerous titles are given to Jesus in the Qur'an, such as mubārak (blessed) and `abd-Allāh (servant of God). Another title is al-Masīḥ ("the messiah; the anointed one" i.e. by means of blessings), although it does not correspond with the meaning accrued in Christian belief. Jesus is seen in Islam as a precursor to Muhammad, and is believed by Muslims to have foretold the latter's coming.

According to the early 20th century teachings of the Ahmadi Muslims, Jesus did not die on the cross, but after his apparent death and resurrection (or resuscitation from his tomb) he journeyed east to Kashmir to further teach the gospel until his natural death.

Following Jesus' death of natural causes at a ripe old age of roughly 120 years, Jesus according to Ahmadi doctrine was then laid to rest in Srinagar, and that the tomb of a sage known locally as Yuz Asaf (which in Kashmiri means "Leader of the Healed") is really the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. According to this movement, the second coming predicted in the Muslim tradition is not actually that of Jesus, but that of a person "similar to Jesus", i.e. the founder of the movement himself and his teachings were representative of Jesus.

Judaism holds the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of a Trinity, or a mediator to God, to be heresy. Judaism also holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that he had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, there were no more prophets after Malachi, who lived centuries before Jesus and delivered his prophesies about 420 BC. Judaism states that Jesus did not fulfil the requirements set by the Torah to prove that he was a prophet. Even if Jesus had produced such a sign that Judaism recognized, Judaism states that no prophet or dreamer can contradict the laws already stated in the Torah, which Jesus did.

The Bahá'í Faith, founded in 19th-century Persia, considers Jesus, along with Muhammad, the Buddha, Krishna, and Zoroaster, and other messengers of the great religions of the world to be prophets, with both human and divine stations.

The Hindu beliefs about Jesus vary. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness considers Jesus to be a shaktyavesha Avatar, the beloved son of Krishna who came down to Earth to preach God’s consciousness. Paramahansa Yogananda taught that Jesus was the reincarnation of Elisha and a student of John the Baptist who was the reincarnation of Elijah.

Buddhists' views of Jesus differ. Some Buddhists, including Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama regard Jesus as a bodhisattva who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings. The 14th century Zen master Gasan Jōseki indicated that the Gospels were written by an enlightened being.

Mandaeanism, a very small Mid-eastern, Gnostic sect that reveres John the Baptist as God's greatest prophet, regards Jesus as a false prophet of the false Jewish god of the Old Testament, Adonai, and likewise rejects Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad. Manichaeism accepted Jesus as a prophet, along with Gautama Buddha and Zoroaster.

Many writers emphasize Jesus' moral teachings. Some argue that Jesus' ethics are distinct from those usually taught by Christianity. The Jesus Seminar portrays Jesus as an itinerant preacher who taught peace and love, rights for women and respect for children, and who spoke out against the hypocrisy of religious leaders and the rich. Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a deist, created the Jefferson Bible entitled "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" that included only Jesus' ethical teachings because he did not believe in Jesus' divinity or any of the other supernatural aspects of the Bible.

With all these conflicting views it is interesting to break it all down into a short list that all agree with.

1.    Yeshua was a very common name.

2.    Jesus or Joshua (Yeshua) was born around 6BC to Mary and Joseph (or the Holy Spirit) as a Jew.

3.    He was probably a descendent of King David if you accept Joseph as his father or adopted father.

4.    He grew up in Nazareth or surrounding areas.

5.    He was baptized by John the Baptist when he was about 29-30 years old.

6.    He started his ministry after being baptized.

7.    He preached God’s words as he understood them.

8.    After just 3 or 4 years he was either executed or left the area.

With only these small points to work with, it is difficult to come to any firm decision about him. Once again, it is all about belief and not facts.

My belief is that, it doesn’t matter if Mary was a virgin, or if Jesus was married or died on the cross, what matters is the message he brought to us from God.

5

The Bible

The Bible as we know it is a collection of books known as a bibliography (shortened to bible). It has two main parts, the Old Testament taken from the Jewish Holy book the Tanakh and the New Testament comprising of the four gospels and letters. It has been given many other names by many other denominations including “God’s Word”, “Good News” (Gospel means Good News), “Holy Bible”, “The Evidence”, “The Witness”, etc. There are, of course many different versions of the bible ranging from the King James Version to the Contemporary Version all in every language known to man. A short look at some of the different versions show many differences between them, some totally changing the whole meaning of that particular passage.

The Bible, or should I say, the books that make up our Bible were written by many different people in different languages at different times. Much of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and survives still in Hebrew in Synagogues, but it was written many years after the event, so some of the content may well have changed – remember that children’s game “Chinese Whispers”?

Much of the New Testament was written in Greek many years after Jesus had died. Both testaments have been translated into ancient Greek, Latin then old English then more modern English, played around with by the Vatican and various Bishops,  Popes and Kings etc.

Many books and Gospels (Gospels according to Thomas and Paul are just two) were left out of our modern New Testament because they did not fit in with the teachings of the old Catholic church. The Catholic bible has extra books in the Old Testament that many protestant bibles do not and some are not even included in the Jewish Tanakh.

It is believed that the four Gospels in the New Testament (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) were not written by those people in the first place. The Gospel according to Luke was a letter to Theophilius where the author admits that he wasn’t there but put together the story from hearing other accounts.

The Gospel of John was not written until many years after, it is the most recent Gospel, and some historians even believe it was written by an early Catholic monk to justify some of the teachings of the early church.

The Gospel of Matthew had a whole chapter removed (the raising of Lazarus) and a new chapter inserted at the end in the 4^th century AD.

The Gospel of Mark has two different endings.

The Gospels do not even agree on many things including the ancestry of Jesus, where he found his first two disciples, the account of Lazarus, the crucifixion, etc.

Therefore, do I believe that the Bible was written by God? No of course not. - Do I believe that it was inspired of God? Yes I do - Do I think it contains the words of God? In some places, yes. The Bible even tells us which is the word of God by saying "and God said".

So do I believe it is the exact words used? No I don’t, no two versions are the same but I do believe that it is still the best book available to guide us through this life and, after this life is over, into an everlasting life with God.

6

The founding of the Christian Church

The Christian Church originated in Roman Judea in the first century AD, founded on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The precise start of the Church is considered to be originating with Jesus' Apostles. According to scripture Jesus commanded the Apostles to spread his teachings to the entire world.

Although springing out of the first century Jewish faith, from its earliest days they accepted non-Jews (Gentiles) without requiring them to fully adopt Jewish customs (e.g. circumcision) Some think that conflict with Jewish religious authorities quickly led to the expulsion of the Christians from the synagogues in Jerusalem.

The Church gradually spread through the Roman Empire and outside it gaining major establishments in cities such as Jerusalem, Antioch, and Edessa. Christianity became a widely persecuted religion, hated by the Jewish authorities as a heresy, and by the Roman authorities because, like Judaism, its monotheistic teachings were fundamentally foreign to the traditions of the ancient world, as well as a challenge to the imperial cult. Other teachings of Christianity, such as the call to chastity and the prohibition on homosexual practice, also made it unpopular with the promiscuous Romans. Despite this the Church grew rapidly until finally legalized and then promoted by Emperors Galerius and Constantine in the fourth century. A major controversy as the Church was being formalized was the Arianism vs. Trinitarianism debate which occupied the Church during the fourth century.

After various Church councils (Nicea, Tyre, Rimini, Seleucia, Constantinople, etc.), the matter was effectively settled by the Trinitarian Emperor Theodosius who made Christianity the state religion (some Germanic tribes, though, remained Arian well into the Middle Ages). This period would begin the long-term persecution of pagans and "heretical" Christians in the Empire and the kingdoms that followed.

The Church of the Roman Empire was divided into Patriarchal Sees with five holding particular prominence, one in the West (Rome), and the rest in the East (Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria). The bishops of these five would become the Patriarchs of the Church. Even after the split of the Roman Empire the Church remained a relatively united institution (excluding Oriental Orthodoxy and some other groups which separated from the rest of the Church earlier). The Church came to be a central and defining institution of the Empire, especially in the East. In particular, Constantinople would come to be seen as the center of the Christian world, owing in great part to its economic and political power.

Once the Western Empire fell to Germanic incursions in the 5th century, the Church became the primary link to Roman civilization for Medieval Western Europe and an important channel of influence in the West for the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, emperors. While, in the West, Christianity struggled as the Roman Church competed against the Arian Christian and pagan faiths of western Europe, the Eastern Romans spread Christianity to the pagan Slavs establishing the Church in what is now Russia, Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The reign of Charlemagne in Western Europe is particularly noted for bringing the last major Western tribes outside of the Church into communion with Rome, in part through conquest and violent conversion.

Starting in the 7th century the Islamic Caliphates rose and gradually began to conquer larger and larger areas of the Christian world. Excepting southern Spain and a few smaller areas, Northern and Western Europe escaped largely unscathed by Islamic expansion in great part because Constantinople and its empire acted as a magnet for the onslaught. The challenge presented by the Muslims would help to solidify the religious identity of Eastern Christians even as it gradually weakened the Eastern Empire.

Even in the Muslim World, the Church survived (e.g. the modern Copts, Maronites, and others) although at times with great difficulty.

Although there had long been frictions between the Bishop of Rome (i.e. the Western Pope) and the other patriarchs, Rome's changing allegiance from Constantinople to the Frankish king Charlemagne set the Church on a course towards separation. The political and theological divisions would grow until Rome excommunicated the East in the 11th century, ultimately leading to the division of the Church into the Western Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

As a result of the redevelopment of Western Europe, and the gradual fall of the Eastern Roman Empire to the Arabs and Turks (helped by warfare against Eastern Christians). The final Fall of Constantinople in 1453 AD resulted in Eastern scholars fleeing the Moslem hordes bringing ancient manuscripts to the West, which was a factor in the beginning of the period of the Western Renaissance there. Rome came to be seen by the Western Church as Christianity's heartland. Some Eastern churches even broke with Eastern Orthodoxy and entered into communion with Rome. The changes brought on by the Renaissance eventually led to the Protestant Reformation during which the Protestant Lutheran and the Reformed followers of Calvin, Hus, Zwingli, Melancthon, Knox, and others split from the Roman Catholic Church. At this time, a series of non-theological disputes also led to the English Reformation which led to the independence of the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.

During the age of exploration and colonisation, England and Spain spread the various Christian Churches around the world, especially to Africa and the Americas (English Anglican and protestant in the north and Catholicism in the south). These developments in turn have led to Christianity being the largest religion in the world today.

7

Adapting religion to suit others

The early years of the Christian Church were perhaps the only time it was a pure religion based on the teachings of Jesus, but it was threatened with extinction by the steadfastness of the prevailing religions of the time, Judaism, Paganism, etc. People could not see why they should leave the religion they had been used to for many years just to join this new one that didn’t really make sense to them.

The early church did not celebrate Christmas or Easter, nor did they consider Jesus a god or Mary a virgin, they believed Jesus was the son of Joseph. Most of their beliefs were still Judaic in principle with the teachings of Jesus integrated within these beliefs. As the years past, the leaders of the church began to change things to incorporate other beliefs, other doctrines to attract new converts.

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin words for virgin were the same for unmarried woman or young woman (as it still is in German and French). At first Mary was considered just a young woman until the leaders of the church realized that many pagan religions worshiped, or held in high regard, virgins. Mary then became a virgin. The Romans had a celebration on 25^th December, so Christmas was invented on that day. Easter was superimposed onto the Jewish celebration of Passover. There is no major Christian celebration that is not associated with either a pagan or Jewish celebration.

It should be remembered that the Christian Church did not become a powerful and influential religion until medieval times when the Bishop of Rome declared himself Pope and appointed Charlemagne as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The church then had a powerful ally and almost a private army.

Hell, eternal damnation, purgatory and confession were invented as a way of policing the people and ensuring the “believers” did not leave the church and return to their pagan ways. Later Mary Magdalene was labeled a prostitute (even though there is no evidence she was anything other than a devout follower of Jesus and his favorite disciple) just to prevent women from taking any part in the running of the church. Some believe that she was also labeled a prostitute to stop people believing that she was the wife of Jesus. Many believe that Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany were one and the same. It is known that Jesus had 3 brothers and 2 sisters, their names are believed by some to be James, Judas, John, Mary and Salome. Although some Christian religions deny this fact and other names have also been suggested.

The church in Rome labeled any other church that did not adhere precisely to their doctrine “heretics”, such as the Arians* who did not accept the trinity or the divinity of Jesus, and had them arrested and executed. All their writings were found and burned, thereby eradicating any other view or even thought that questioned anything in the catholic doctrine. The Christian Church was on the road to becoming what it is today. 

* It should be noted that the religious group known as “Arians” or “Arianism” were the followers of the teachings of Arius and have no connection whatsoever to the, so called, Indo-Germanic race known as “Aryan” of whom Nazi Germany considered themselves to be descended.

8

So what do I believe?

My beliefs are varied and simple. My studies of theology and science have led me to look at religion in general, and my own beliefs in particular, in a slightly different way. Therefore, some of my beliefs (or lack of beliefs) can seem, to some, as anti-Catholic, anti-Anglican or anti-Baptist, etc. they are not. I am not anti any religion or denomination; I believe each and every one of them has good points as well as bad and each should accept and respect the existence of the other. My beliefs can be very basic in some ways and quite complicated in others. But I think they are quite simple.

1.    There is one God and one God only, the creator and father of all.

2.    You can call God “God”, “Allah”, or whatever you want, He doesn’t mind what you call him “just as long as you call him”.

3.    God made us in His spiritual image, not physical image. Why would He need two arms and two legs etc if He is the Supreme Being?

4.    I believe that God gave us the ability to choose, think, make our own decisions, laugh, cry, make jokes, sing, dance, make music, etc. so any religious restrictions on these are going against God’s gifts to us.

5.    God is not just the God of love. He is love. God loves us unconditionally and will forgive us almost anything providing we recognize we have done wrong and have the ability to forgive others. God cannot forgive you if you cannot forgive yourself. All God wants is for us to love Him unconditionally back.

6.    I do not care if Mary was a virgin or not. I do not care if Joseph was the biological father of Jesus or not it makes no difference to the message Jesus gave.

7.    I believe that Jesus was chosen and given his message by God – that God considered this message important and wanted us all to listen to it and act accordingly.

8.    I do not believe in hell. If God is our father, then what father would condemn his children to hell Eternal damnation, etc.?

9.    If I do not believe in hell, then I cannot justify believing in the devil as anything other than just a being that tests our beliefs.

10.                       I cannot accept the traditional view of the trinity. I do not accept that Jesus was God in flesh. If he was then why would he go off into the desert many times a day to pray to himself?

11.                       The Holy Spirit is God’s influence within us all not a separate being that has a separate job from God.

12.                       I do not care if Jesus died on the cross or whether he survived and left the area with Mary Magdalene to start a new life. I do not care if Jesus was married or not. It makes no difference to the message Jesus gave and it is the message that is so much more important.

13.                       I do not believe in praying to or through anyone or anything. I only believe in praying directly to God.

14.                       I do not believe in saints, patron saints, or any other system that elevates any human to a pseudo or lesser-god. Humans are humans, nothing else.

15.                       I believe that praying to Mary or saying “Mary mother of God” is a direct contravention of the first commandment.

16.                       I believe that kneeling down in front of a statue of no matter who is a direct contravention of the second commandment.

17.                       God does speak to us! Not necessarily with a voice, but more often with action. Remember that day you couldn’t find your car keys or couldn’t start the car - and later found there had been an accident on your route to work? Or some similar event?

18.                       I believe that God answers every prayer, but not necessarily in the way we want.

19.                       I do not believe that God is on our side in any war anymore than he is on the other side.

20.                       No one ever sought God in vain!

21.                       If you think love; then love will surround you. If you think ill-will; then ill-will will surround you.

22.                       Fear is the biggest evil in the world; it spawns arguments, wars, and every temptation that is traditionally attributed to the devil.

23.                       God guides us and teaches us, we just choose not to listen.

24.                       I believe in God our Father, Saviour, Redeemer, and Friend and in God’s love.

9

Conclusion

As I have said, many people think I am offended by the Roman Catholic faith, I am not. The Catholic faith does not offend me. If it wasn’t for the Catholic Church there would be no Christianity. That is where all Christian faiths come from. I have the greatest respect for the Catholic faith and all religious that believe in the one God. Where I differ from the Catholics is that I do not think it is right to put a human (Mary) above God. God does not have a mother; He is the Mother and Father of all creation. I would be happier if they were to say “Mary mother of Jesus”, that would be much more accurate. On the same subject, I also think it is wrong to pray to Mary or any other Saint, it clearly says in the Bible that you must pray directly to God, “talk to God and he will answer”, by praying to, or through someone else you are effectively saying that they are also a god, this is not how it should be. Also I don’t think it is up to human beings, even the Pope, to decide if someone is a saint or not. And who is to say what their job is after they die? Certainly not the Pope that is God’s decision.

Judaism is the mother of both Christianity and Islam. Abraham was the father of Judaism, and all three of these religions are known as “Abrahamic” religions, because Abraham was the one that put it all together and came up with One God who is still known in some religions as the “God of Abraham”. The Jewish Torah forms the first five books of the old testament of our Holy Bible and an integral part of the Islamic Quran. All three accept the existence of the principle players in the others. Don’t forget, Jesus was Jewish!

My beliefs are based, as far as possible, on the simple precept that there is one God and one God only. No one else is a god, and no one has the right to speak for God, forgive people in the name of God, punish people in the name of God or, indeed, do anything in the name of God unless God Himself has specifically said so, (which I believe he did with Jesus, John the Baptist, Abraham, Moses, Etc). That no one has the right to tell anyone that their beliefs are wrong or that they will go to hell because of their religion or religious beliefs.

My beliefs in a nutshell:

I believe that Women and men are equal.

All humanity is one family. All prejudice is destructive. We must investigate truth without preconceptions

Science and religion are in harmony.

The family and its unity are very important.

All major religions come from God.

World peace is the major need of our time.

There is one God and one God only.

The whole human race is connected to each other and to God, no matter what name you give God He is still God – no matter what language you speak or what country you come from you will still have a word that means God. It doesn’t matter what religion or political persuasion you are, if you are male or female, black or white, these things only last a while; a lifetime is short and when it is over you can spend eternity with God; with no colour, no orientation, no politics, no languages, no religion, just eternity with the truth and love of God.

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