Did Jesus ever exist?

The philosophical basis of Christianity was first propounded by the Greek philosopher Plato who taught the mystery of the Christos to the Academy of Philosophy in Athens in the third century B.C.

Plato taught that the world of matter was under the control of a great spiritual principle—the Nous—which principle was also called Logos, or The Divine Mind or Word of God. When this principle manifested itself in the world, it was called virtue or goodness.

        Did you know that President Thomas Jefferson was a Bible scholar? After spending years in Bible study he came to the conclusion that the story of Jesus was just a legend. He wrote:

      "Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God. The writers of the New Testament were ignorant, unlettered men who produced superstitions, fanaticisms, and fabrication. if a history of his life can be added, written with the same view of the subject, the world will see, after the fogs shall be dispelled, in which for 14 centuries he has been enveloped by jugglers to make money of him, when the genuine character shall be exhibited, which they have dressed up in the rags of an Impostor, the world, I say, will at length see the immortal merit of this first of human sages.”

      Following the destruction of Jerusalem of 539 BC and the Babylonian captivity, a belief arose among the Jews of a future Jewish king from the Davidic line, who would be "anointed" to rule the Jewish people during the Messianic Age. He was referred to as Messiah ben David, which means "the annointed son of David", or Messiah Yeheshuah which means "the annointed savior". Many beliefs attached themselves to this legend including the idea  that he would gather together all the scattered children of Israel.There were differing versions of the kingdom and role of the Messiah ranging from the establishment of a Jewish political kingdom here on earth to the notion that a heavenly kingdom would be established at the end of the age.

      Antigonus Mattathias was the last king of he Jews in the line of David. In 37 BC, after three years of struggle against Rome for independence, he was captured by Herod and crucified by the Romans. Someone named Abba brought his body to Jerusalem and buried in a new tomb that he had purchased.

      As the political situation of the Jews worsened, the legend became more and more popular and many synagogues taught the Messiah.

     The Book of Luke tells us that, around 40 AD, the Greek-speaking Jews who believed in the coming Messiah began calling themselves Christians - a new Greek word which meant the equivalent of the Hebrew Messianist.

      Then we have two accounts that may have been the source of some of the legend:

     1) There was a certain lunatic named Carabbas, who was easy--going and gentle. Some Jewish rioters set him up on high to be seen of all and put on his head a sheet of papyrus spread out wide for a crown, clothed the rest of his body with a rug for a royal robe, while someone gave him a stick for his scepter. And when,an actor, he had received the symbol of kingship and had been dressed out as a king, young men carrying rods on their shoulders as spear-men stood on either side of him in imitation of a bodyguard.Then others approached him, some pretending to salute him, others to sue for justice, others to consult on state affairs. Then from the multitude there arose a wonderful shout of men calling him king.          

 - Philo,  40 AD   Treatise against Flaccus 

        and. . .     

      2) Four years before the war, [which took place in 70 AD] when the city was enjoying profound peace and prosperity, there came to the feast at which it is the custom of all Jews to erect tabernacles to God, one Jesus, son of Ananias, a rude peasant, who suddenly began to cry out, "A voice from the east, a voice from the west, a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the sanctuary, a voice against the bridegroom and the bride, a voice against all the people." Day and night he went about all the alleys with this cry on his lips. Some of the leading citizens, incensed at these ill-omened words, arrested the fellow and severely chastised him. But he, without a word on his own behalf or for the private ear of those who smote him, only continued his cries as before. Thereupon, the magistrates, supposing, as was indeed the case, that the man was under some supernatural impulse, brought him before the Roman governor; there, although flayed to the bone with scourges, he neither sued for mercy nor shed a tear, So for seven years and five months he continued his wail,  his voice never flagging nor his strength exhausted, until in the siege, having seen his presage verified, he found his rest. For, while going his round and shouting in piercing tones from the wall, "Woe once more to the city and to the people and to the temple," as he added a last word, "and woe to me also," a stone hurled from the ballista struck and killed him on the spot. .       - - Josephus' Wars of the Jews  70 AD.

      Beginning in 66 AD there were a series of large-scale by the Jews of the Eastern Mediterranean against the Roman Empire. Striving to restore an independent Judean state thesenationalist rebellions lasted until 136 AD.   The siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was a decisive event in which the Roman army captured the city of Jerusalem and destroyed both the city and its Temple. It was during this period of chaos that the legend of Jesus Christ began to take shape.       

     Past, present and predicted events merged with non-Jewish myths. Someone did something or said something —possibly an itinerate preacher or rabbi, very likely not named Jesus. All these stories evolved as they were told and retold.

      After the ends of the wars, the stories gradually began to attain a widespread influence throughout the Roman Empire. They also underwent significant changes that often resulted from the various cults absorbing elements from each other. New and odd combinations of the older mysteries began to emerge. And as they continued to tone down the more extreme features of their stories, they began to attract greater numbers of followers.

     The work of generations of scholars suggests there never was a Jesus of Nazareth. There may have been a Jesus on Earth in the past, but the evidence is so ambiguous that we can never be sure if any facts about him or, indeed, whether there was such a person."

      The cherry tree myth about George Washington is an example of how a legend is born. In the original story, when Washington was six years old he received a hatchet as a gift and damaged his father’s cherry tree. When his father discovered what he had done, he became angry and confronted him. Young George bravely said, “I cannot tell a lie…I did cut it with my hatchet.” Washington’s father embraced him and rejoiced that his son’s honesty was worth more than a thousand trees.  Ironically, this fib about the value of honesty was invented by a minister.    

       Does it really matter whether or not Jesus ever existed? The scholars quest for the historical, non-supernatural facts about Jesus is, ultimately, of little consequence. What matters is the teachings attributed to him, whereever they came from..  True or false, it is a message that has altered the consciousness of the world. You do not have be a Christian to adopt the moral teachings of Jesus and to try to make them work in your life.

      Those who try to prove the historical existence of Jesus will find themselves on an endless quest, full of shifting theories, unanswerable questions and irreconcilable facts. :  

      Reason tells us that the fabulous Jesus we find in the Gospels and in Sunday School lessons did not exist. As Jefferson observed, he is the creation of story-tellers—whether they be poets or religious apologists.

     Nevertheless, it is likely that there was someone in first century Jerusalem who did something or said something that left its imprint on history—possibly an itinerate preacher or rabbi, possibly named Jesus.  .

   A Mystical View of Jesus  by Neville

       Neville (Goddard) 1905—1972 was born in Barbados, West Indies, the fourth son in a family of nine. He came to the U.S. at the age of 17 to pursue a career in drama. Upon discovering metaphysics he changes directions and eventually went on a 30-year lecture tour.

     It is asked of me over and over again. “Do you not believe that a man called Jesus Christ walked the earth?” It is my hope that I will be able to clarify this point for you, that you may know the truth which will set you free.
   Speaking of Jesus Christ, it is said that his name shall be called the Word of God. Here we see Jesus as a person with a name, yet he is the truth that sets man free. Confessing that he came into the world to do his Father’s will, Jesus made this statement: “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him, shall have eternal life.” (John 6)
     Now, there is not a truth, or a lie, that does not have a man as its agent, as it takes a man to express either a lie or a truth. Jesus Christ is called the truth. He is not a unique man who was born in four BC and named Jesus Christ, but God’s plan of salvation.
     In the Book of Samuel the story is told of David’s son Absalom who revolted against David and tried to take over the kingdom. All during the battle, however, David inquired over and over again, “How is it with the lad, Absalom?” And when David received the news of Absalom’s death he went up to the chamber over the gate of Jerusalem and wept crying, “Oh Absalom, my son, my son. Would I have died instead of you. Oh Absalom, my son, my son.” This, one of the saddest yet poignant statements of scripture, is a foreshadowing of the story recorded in the New Testament where we find that God the Father does what David longed to do, for only God can give his life to save his Son.
     Speaking to humanity, Blake put these words into the mouth of Jesus

“Fear not! Unless I die thou can’st not live. But if I die I shall arise again and thou with me. Wouldest thou love one who never died for thee? Or ever die for one who had not died for thee? And if God died not for Man, and giveth not himself eternally for Man, Man could not exist.”

     God died by emptying himself of his divinity. He is not pretending to be dead, but actually becomes the very breath of life of every child born of woman. 
     Now walking in the forgetfulness of man, God has prepared a plan for his return and man’s redemption. This plan is Jesus Christ, but because it is personified, man has taken the vehicle that conveyed the instruction for the instruction, and the agent that expressed the great truth for the truth itself. If truth is to be expressed, it takes an individual man to express it. Therefore, when the story of redemption unfolds in a man, he relates his own experience.

     In scripture, the words see and know are interchangeable in both Hebrew and Greek. When I paint you a word picture of the plan of salvation, I am showing you God’s Son. It does not necessarily follow that you will understand what I am saying and believe me, so the statement is made, “To everyone who sees the Son and believes, is eternal life.” I hope you can follow my words, understand and accept them.

     Jesus Christ is not a person, but God’s plan of redemption which must be discovered and understood. One must wear a body of flesh and blood in order to enter this world, but it takes a spiritual body to enter the kingdom of heaven, and my words are spirit!

     No man can set you free. This man called Neville is simply an agent expressing truth. It is not good enough for you to just understand it. You must believe, not in Neville, but in the truth he is expressing.

I am telling you what I have experienced. Jesus Christ, God’s story of salvation, has been fulfilled in me. I have experienced the birth, the discovery of God’s only begotten son David, the splitting of the temple and the ascent of the Son of man into heaven and the descent of the dove.

     The majority of the people of the world will not accept my story. They want a person on the outside as their personal savior, unwilling to believe that their savior is a plan of salvation who is God Himself!

     Now I ask you. do you believe in scripture? It is said that, “Among those born of woman, none is greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” If you insist upon believing that Jesus Christ is a man of flesh and blood, and the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist, then John is greater than Jesus Christ.

      Jesus Christ, God’s plan of salvation, is a supernatural drama. It hasn’t a thing to do with any child which came (or comes) from the womb of a woman. His story takes place in an entirely different area of the mind. Read the 6th, 8th, 18th and 19th chapters of John to discover the wonderful hiddenness of Christ recorded there.

       In the eyes of hundreds of millions of people, Jesus was Joseph’s son, but Jesus does not make that confession. He tells you, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me, and heaven is within.”

      How can Jesus be sent from heaven and be Joseph, a mortal man’s son? When asked who his father was Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father, for it you knew me you would know my Father also.” In other words, if you know Christ in the true sense of the word, you know he is yourself. You will know your Father is he who is called God. Although it takes a man to express God’s plan, Christ cannot be seen by mortal eyes. He can only be known and experienced as God’s plan of salvation.

      When Pilate asked one who expressed the truth to tell him who he was and where he was from, he did not answer. And when Pilate said, “Do you not know I have the power to release you or to crucify you,” truth replied, “You have no power over me unless it is given you from within.”

      The world of Imagination is not this world, and the drama called Jesus Christ unfolds in the world of Imagination. I am sharing with you what I have experienced in that world.

      Now, a lady writes: “In my dream I was watching the tape of my recorder move from one reel to the other. As I watched, I realized that if I arrested the activity I observed, it would freeze. As I did, my senses seemed to open and expand. But I soon discovered that I could not start the reel again until I contracted them. This fascinated me, so I repeated the action several times, each time realizing that I could not start the action in my open and expanded state. Only when I had contracted my senses once more would the reel start and move, seemingly independent of my perception of it.”

      There is only God! God in the eternal state of existence! God in procession and God in return!

      This experience of hers is a foreshadowing of God’s return to union with himself. Wearing a female garment God, in her, is tasting a power which is completely unknown to man. Man is frightened by his own little devices and thinks they can blast the universe apart, but they are only little firecrackers compared to the power of the Human Imagination.

       Our astrophysicists claim there are one-hundred billion galaxies in the universe, with each galaxy containing one-hundred billion stars, yet they can find nothing like our little Earth. The only thing in the universe that could cradle this biological experiment called Man, is right here in our small planet consisting of a sun and a moon, called Earth.

      Dwell upon this thought. The entire universe was created by an orgasm of God. Have you ever seen the orgasm of a man under the microscope?

      Billions of live organisms are there to attempt the likeness of the man, but only one organism is successful. Here is God’s orgasm, of which one system came out which could cradle his experiment of making man in his own image. Nothing here can do it. God had to die in order for man to live knowing, “If I die I shall arise again and thou with me, for if God dieth not for man and gives himself eternally for man, man could not exist.”

      When God became man he brought his plan of salvation, called Jesus Christ, with him. The churches, however, have organized and personified Jesus.

      They have painted pictures of him and placed them on the wall. But Jesus Christ is God’s eternal plan of salvation which is expressed by a man.

     When I am gone, and you are asked if you believe that a man called Jesus Christ was born of Mary, lived and was crucified on a wooden cross, tell them the true story of salvation, from experience. For, by then you will be witnesses to the truth of God’s word. As a witness, you will be the fruit of the tree of life upon which Jesus Christ (God’s eternal plan) was crucified.

       Men are looking for that tree in time and space, but Blake tells us,

“The gods of the Earth and Sea sought through Nature to find this tree, but their search is all in vain; there grows on in the human brain.” 

      God’s plan of salvation is embedded in the brain. Engrafted there, it will grow and erupt into these four major events. Then the man in whom the eruption has taken place will linger to tell of his experience and encourage his brothers. After which he will depart, not to be restored to this terrestrial world, but to enter that age called the kingdom of heaven where he will exercise a power greater than the wildest dream of mortal man.

      When God’s plan of salvation is complete, man will have returned to himself. That’s divine reunion. Then he will know from experience that he came out from the consciousness of being the Father and came into the world by being aware of its existence. Again he will leave the world and return to th awareness of being God the Father.

    This world is not some accident, but a plan to create and expand God’s creative power. There is no limit to your expansion, only a limit to contraction which is man. Taking on the limit of contraction and the opacity of man, God unfolds himself in man to know unlimited translucency and expansion!

      Jesus Christ is God’s plan of salvation. When this is clear to you, you will believe in yourself. But if you reject this, you do not believe in yourself. The entire gospel of John tells about faith and lack of belief in self! Telling you a story about himself, John expresses truth and personifies it as a man. ft’s the truth you should worship, not the man! “Hold onto the truth, for the truth will set you free.”

     If you accept the word of God that abides in you, you will know its truth and be set free. But if possessing wealth, or being famous is more important to you, I say, “O foolish one, your soul is required of you tonight. Tomorrow I will put you in a sphere where you will have your millions and your fame, but you will have to work for it.”

      Don’t think that because you are now playing a noble part, you cannot move to an ignoble one. Just like an actor, you may play the part of a king on the stage of time and space tonight, and tomorrow be cast in the role of a clown. God only acts and is in existing beings or men. We are cast in role after role until the work ‘we agreed to do is completed in us. And regardless of what we do now, or our social or intellectual position, when we leave here we are cast in our appropriate roles. This I know from experience. Everything is done and everything is perfect. God planned everything as it has come to pass, and as it will be consummated.

This truth must be expressed by man, so a man comes and expresses it. One must learn to let the man go, and hold onto the truth he expresses, for the truth will then engraft itself upon the individual and unfold from within. Then he will know who Jesus Christ really is, from experience.

     When God’s only begotten son David calls you father, are you not God? If it is said that God’s body was split from top to bottom and it happens to you, are you not God? As these events happen, the Bible will open up and you will see the wisdom of Blake when he claimed that rivers, mountains, cities, villages, all are you, for in eternity all are men.

      Scripture records that the Mount of Olives was split. You will know that it is your own body that is divided. You will discover you are the river Jordan. When you enter into the awareness of being the mountains, the villages and 4he cities, you will walk in their heavens and earth, just as you now walk in your own heavens and earth, for “All that you behold, though it appears without it is within you, in your Imagination of which this world of mortality is but a shadow.”

      All of the mountains of scripture are within you, as are the cities and the villages, regardless of their names. You become the Jerusalem, the bride who comes down at the dawn. Being God, individualized, you will personify God’s plan of salvation called Jesus Christ, for there is nothing but man and man is God.