John, that was really thought provoking. Thank you. It seems to me that, whether you are looking at the New Testament, or whether you are looking at fact dressed up as myth and legend, eg, King Arthur, there is a political force at work. I'm no scholar; but I find it very hard to believe that the contents of the New Testament were not heavily influenced - indeed controlled - by Rome. Saul/Saulus/Paul was an agent of Rome and a member of King Herod's family. Didn't he pervert the teachings of Jesus to suit the political exigencies of Rome?
Likewise today King Arthur is dismissed as myth and legend because it is politically inconvenient for the British ruling dynasty to recognise that there are alive today descendants of King Arthur, who was descended from the Holy Family and Brutus of Troy, the founder of Britain, and who have a much stronger claim to the throne? Myth and legend are political tools of propaganda, mind control and manipulation.
That's very interesting that you write this now Tirion, because I have been thinking a lot about politics and religion lately. I sometimes shy away political topics on this blog, because I don't want to lose subscribers lol. But I won't, and would not, avoid talking politics if they were an important part of the story I was trying to tell. Sometimes it seems like this will be unavoidable, in which case, so be it. But who the hell knows? Anyway, I think the points you bring up are super important, and one of the things that made Jesus an Avatar above and beyond the others was his willingness to get political, like down and dirty like. I think I will probably be writing about some of this in 2023.
Yeah, I have been down on Paul most of my life, although I gained a more positive opinion of him when I read Lattimore's New Testament [1] in 2021. Yeah, the compilation of the New Testament was so political, that you really end up having to read between the lines all the time. The Nag Hammadi was an amazing find, and the Gospel of Thomas itself should have rightly turned Christianity on its head. My impression is that the real Jesus himself was quite an enigma, with lots of different facets - Jewish, Hellenist, insurrectionist, non-conformist, spiritual leader, healer, fuck it goes on and on. Which makes digging the real Jesus out of such politicized texts even more of a tricky challenge.
I talk a bit about the early Christian church in Basillica [2], which you might enjoy.
Dec 23, 2022·edited Dec 23, 2022Liked by John P Sullivan
Well, yes indeed, politics and religion are of course an explosive mixture; but the sad fact is that The Roman Empire subverted religion about 2000 years ago and the two have been inseparable ever since. At the risk of poking the bear even more, it seems to me that the Church of Rome is truthfully seen as a political institution masquerading as a church. Isn't the Vatican Curia a direct successor to the Roman Senate?! And of course ironically it was Constantine The Great's Council of Nicaea in AD 325 that narrowly voted to confer divine status on Jesus!
My understanding of the real Jesus and his family is that they were high-born advanced initiates of an Egyptian Gnostic Christian order and that Jesus spent his early years with that Order in Alexandria, where he learned the science of prayer and miracles and where he became High Priest of the Order before returning to Judea to press his legitimate claim to the throne. His training included becoming a kundalini yoga master.
Jesus married Mary Magdalene. She was the daughter of King Juba II of Numidia/Mauritania and Cleopadra, who was the daughter of Mark Antony and Queen Cleopadra VII of Egypt. So Jesus and Mary were quite the power couple, who presented Rome with a significant threat/headache in the Middle East.
If you're interested in the political context of Jesus's life and times, you will probably enjoy "Where Jesus Is Buried," by Wilson and Blackett (Cymroglyphics, June, 2021):
John, that was really thought provoking. Thank you. It seems to me that, whether you are looking at the New Testament, or whether you are looking at fact dressed up as myth and legend, eg, King Arthur, there is a political force at work. I'm no scholar; but I find it very hard to believe that the contents of the New Testament were not heavily influenced - indeed controlled - by Rome. Saul/Saulus/Paul was an agent of Rome and a member of King Herod's family. Didn't he pervert the teachings of Jesus to suit the political exigencies of Rome?
Likewise today King Arthur is dismissed as myth and legend because it is politically inconvenient for the British ruling dynasty to recognise that there are alive today descendants of King Arthur, who was descended from the Holy Family and Brutus of Troy, the founder of Britain, and who have a much stronger claim to the throne? Myth and legend are political tools of propaganda, mind control and manipulation.
That's very interesting that you write this now Tirion, because I have been thinking a lot about politics and religion lately. I sometimes shy away political topics on this blog, because I don't want to lose subscribers lol. But I won't, and would not, avoid talking politics if they were an important part of the story I was trying to tell. Sometimes it seems like this will be unavoidable, in which case, so be it. But who the hell knows? Anyway, I think the points you bring up are super important, and one of the things that made Jesus an Avatar above and beyond the others was his willingness to get political, like down and dirty like. I think I will probably be writing about some of this in 2023.
Yeah, I have been down on Paul most of my life, although I gained a more positive opinion of him when I read Lattimore's New Testament [1] in 2021. Yeah, the compilation of the New Testament was so political, that you really end up having to read between the lines all the time. The Nag Hammadi was an amazing find, and the Gospel of Thomas itself should have rightly turned Christianity on its head. My impression is that the real Jesus himself was quite an enigma, with lots of different facets - Jewish, Hellenist, insurrectionist, non-conformist, spiritual leader, healer, fuck it goes on and on. Which makes digging the real Jesus out of such politicized texts even more of a tricky challenge.
I talk a bit about the early Christian church in Basillica [2], which you might enjoy.
[1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12249.The_New_Testament
[2] https://thescienceofdao.substack.com/p/the-basilica-of-saint-mary
Well, yes indeed, politics and religion are of course an explosive mixture; but the sad fact is that The Roman Empire subverted religion about 2000 years ago and the two have been inseparable ever since. At the risk of poking the bear even more, it seems to me that the Church of Rome is truthfully seen as a political institution masquerading as a church. Isn't the Vatican Curia a direct successor to the Roman Senate?! And of course ironically it was Constantine The Great's Council of Nicaea in AD 325 that narrowly voted to confer divine status on Jesus!
My understanding of the real Jesus and his family is that they were high-born advanced initiates of an Egyptian Gnostic Christian order and that Jesus spent his early years with that Order in Alexandria, where he learned the science of prayer and miracles and where he became High Priest of the Order before returning to Judea to press his legitimate claim to the throne. His training included becoming a kundalini yoga master.
Jesus married Mary Magdalene. She was the daughter of King Juba II of Numidia/Mauritania and Cleopadra, who was the daughter of Mark Antony and Queen Cleopadra VII of Egypt. So Jesus and Mary were quite the power couple, who presented Rome with a significant threat/headache in the Middle East.
If you're interested in the political context of Jesus's life and times, you will probably enjoy "Where Jesus Is Buried," by Wilson and Blackett (Cymroglyphics, June, 2021):
https://www.cymroglyphics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=73
I loved this.