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Friday, January 13, 2006

WHAT THE BLANK DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE BIBLE - Part 3

What the Blank do We Know About the Bible? Part 3 © Bettye Johnson
The Greatest Fraud Perpetuated Upon Humanity

The Old Testament (OT) could be called a historical treasure hunt while the New Testament (NT) is supposedly about a great man named Jesus or Yeshua ben Joseph. Even in the NT it takes discernment to understand it and very few scholars have the education or the research background to see the obvious unobvious. I personally believe that Jesus lived and that he came to give us a new way of thinking and living. However any documentation of his actual life is a hodgepodge or mishmash of books in the NT. None of the four gospels, i.e. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written during his lifetime. It is even doubtful that the authors of the four gospels were actually named Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. Researchers are realizing this now more than ever.

The travesty that has been perpetuated upon humankind is beyond measure. For the sake of power and misinformation along with mistranslations, the teachings of Jesus have almost been lost. The Christian churches of today teach more about Jesus instead of his message of how to live our lives. The church I grew up in and what I have experienced and observed is that Christianity has become a religion of bigotry, prejudice, hatred, and hypocrisy. This is not what Jesus taught. I find very little tolerance and love coming from a host of those who profess to be Christians.

The basis of the message of Jesus is in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew (chapter 5.) Jesus also is quoted as saying “greater things than I, you can do also.” (John 5:20. This was altered in some Bibles.) Also in John, Jesus said, “Don’t you know your laws say you are gods?” (John 10:34 and Psalms 82:6). It is interesting how these important words have been changed, ignored and glossed over. It was Paul (if there was ever a Paul) who made Jesus into the only Christ god and Paul never heard Jesus teach or personally knew him.

In Tony Bushby’s book “The Crucifixion of Truth”, he lays out with almost impeccable documentation how these books of the NT have been constructed and also how the church has fraudulently changed them. This documentation comes from suppressed church manuscripts. To quote the back cover of his book, “Using the scroll discovery, papal statements and the evidence of history, Tony Bushby takes his readers into the shady world of ecclesiastical dishonesty where, for centuries, an unprincipled church plotted and schemed its stratagem to perpetrate and maintain a false faith and exploit a gullible public.”

Another interesting book that was published in 2005, is Bart D. Ehrman’s book “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why.” Ehrman takes a softer stance and in some instances attributes it to church scribes who either didn’t read well or chose to change it. Ehrman has a background of being a Born Again Christian, a Fundamentalist, an Evangelical Christian and now is a scholar of textual criticism. He attributes much of the mistranslations and misinformation to their humanity. His book is not a refutation of Bushby's. Textual Criticism is described as a field of biblical criticism to establish the original wording or form of the biblical text insofar as this is possible. (My underline.)

Dishonesty is still dishonesty when present day clergy and scholars allow the lies to continue to be perpetuated upon the unsuspecting public. My father had a saying, “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck. I say fraud is fraud and if one allows the fraud to continue, then he is as guilty as the ones who created the fraud.

What is refreshing are the books being acknowledged today that are bringing forth the fraud of the Bible. Dan Brown’s book “The DaVinci Code” written, as a novel is so powerful that the Church became alarmed after it took the world by storm. Books have even been written about breaking the DaVinci code. Another book that is now before the public is “Pope Joan” by Donna Woolfolk Cross. Recently she appeared on the television Prime Time program about Pope Joan with Diane Sawyer. This is going to be made into a movie along with The DaVinci Code. I say hooray for them.

My own book, “Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls” is the result of extensive research and most of it is not covered in either of the two books mentioned above. I also brought out information about Pope Joan with documentation. In the Prime Time program the naysayers could not accept that there had been a female pope and called it a myth. What they do not realize is that there is always truth in myths.

There is a possibility that Leonardo DaVinci was a woman and when further evidence is uncovered, you can bet that there will be a huge hullabaloo. But why not? As Sawyer said on the Pope Joan program, women have masqueraded as men for centuries and she showed examples. Leonardo came in at a time when a woman was considered to be little more than a breeding bitch or something for pleasure and also to serve. Two different computer tests have been made on the paintings of DaVinci and the findings indicate that the Mona Lisa is a self-portrait of Leonardo. I have this documented in my book.

Is the NT all bad? Not at all. It is reading it with discernment and separating the wheat from the chaff. Jesus said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If everyone lived this, we wouldn’t have so many wars, murders, wife beatings, child abuse and so on. Jesus also said, “Love the lord, your god with all your heart and soul,” and “to love your neighbor as yourself.” If each of us practiced this, we wouldn’t have theft or jealousy or greed.

The Bible, meaning the Old Testament and the New Testament has been used to suppress women and to perpetuate the ills that are rampant in this world. It would behoove us to look beyond and only live what Jesus taught. It is as simple as that. Peter wasn’t the first Pope and there is an outside chance that Jesus didn’t say that Peter was to build a church based upon him. Peter was another word for rock – meaning dense.

There is so much that has been kept from the public such as Thomas Didymus being Jesus’ twin brother. Or that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus and a great teacher in her own right. She bore him two children. So why should one be surprised that there was actually a Pope Joan? All through the ages the Catholic Church has been rife with lies, fraud, pedophiles, transvestites and homosexuals as priests and popes. Transvestites and homosexuals are mentioned here only because of the blatant suppression of the rights of women by men who by their sexual preferences appear to hate women. The Christian churches have also echoed what the Church perpetuated. It’s time to wake up and see the other side. Read the writings of Thomas. The Book of Thomas. Who should know better than the twin brother?

There is also a trend of modern day authors to use the Old Testament as proof of genealogy regarding Jesus and his bloodline. Now really! If you read Parts 1 and 2 of this article you would quickly note that to trace a genetic bloodline using the Bible is ludicrous. In my research I have found almost nothing regarding a the era from 1 Ce until approximately the 5th century that would indicate a thread linking to a genealogy of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. I just wrote 'almost nothing' however I will allow the reader to make her or his own conclusion when I complete the sequel to “Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls.” Perhaps it will be published by the end of the year – if I can get it completed.

What kind of a world would this be if the majority of humanity woke up and rejected this fraud? Who would lose their power? Who would lose control? Who would gain their freedom? It is something to consider. Isn’t it time we took Jesus down from the cross and took responsibility for our lives and our decisions? Isn’t it time we took the sword he said he had brought – a sword of truth whose meaning is to use it to conquer our own limitations and emotions? It can be a wonderful world.
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