Jesus was not a Christian

Oxford University's first professor of Jewish Studies, Professor Geza Vermes after years spent in research said in 1973 that, Jesus was never a Christian but was a "practicing Jew".

Pastor Hawkins said, "Jesus was not a Christian. He never asked anyone to become a Christian, nor did he draw up a theological treatise. Jesus never took an offering and never wore religious garments. He simply called people to follow him."

Jim Stacey, former Minister of Christian Church in his book titled 'Jesus Was Not A Christian' uncovers how Christianity has perverted the message of Jesus in Jesus was not a Christian. Instead of practicing love for our neighbors, love for enemies, turning the other cheek, the kingdom within, and birthing a new self that Jesus said were paramount for one who claims to follow him, Christians have blindly followed church rules and regulations. Stacey shows just how much has been lost, including a recognition of the feminine face of God. Belief held no power for Jesus, but practicing his message was all that mattered. Christianity has lost the Jesus they claim to follow, but in Jesus was not a Christian, Stacey brings back Jesus and his real message. Provocative and inspirational, Jesus was not a Christian point the way to a deeper spiritual practice of Jesus' words, instead of just more religion. The book was published on April 16, 2010.

Commenting on this book, one of the reviewers said, "This book brings up some very important spiritual issues. I enjoyed Mr. Stacey's honest and eye-opening dialogue on Jesus and his teachings. The journey following Jesus is one of reward and struggle. The messages in Mr. Stacey's book bring the reader closer to finding a true connection to the Divine. That is what Jesus was teaching. This book is very timely and written with compassion. It is an important read and is poised to help people as a change of consciousness embarks throughout the nation and world."

'Who was Jesus?' is the oldest issue for all Christians. Through recent centuries many religious groups have co-opted and defined Jesus after their image. For a good number, Jesus is only prophet or teacher. The Cults and Sects have distinguished themselves by the identity they have given to Jesus. The Jehovah's Witnesses say Jesus is a great angel. The Latter Day Saints believe, in essence, that Jesus is a highly evolved human.

A number of books catalog the varieties of images of Jesus in the last century. One book by Jon A. Buell & O. Quentin Hyder, addresses several major images in his book entitled Jesus: God, Ghost, or Guru?. John Wick Bowman, who wrote Which Jesus? [Philadelphia: Westminster Press, n.d.] uses his chapters to reflect the many modern images attached to Christ: 1) Apocalyptic Son of Man; 2) Existentialist Rabbi; 3) Essene-Like Teacher; 4) Nazorean Scheming Messiah; 5) Para-Zealot Revolutionary. Ken Samples, of Augustine Fellowship, conducts lectures on the subject: Jesus Christ - Man, Menace, Madman, Myth, Mystic or Messiah? Who Jesus is appears to be a complex subject.

It would seem to go without saying that of all the speculation the one thing we can be certain of is that Jesus was a Christian. After all, isn't He where we get the idea of what it means to be a Christian? Or is it? Maybe we need to stop and think about that very carefully. One recent book This Jesus: Martyr, Lord, Messiah, asks a very penetrating and germane question: "Was Jesus a Christian?" Most people would say "Yes" without hesitation. Let me say, the answer you give will tell much about your understanding of the Gospel. It will tell significant things about your theology, your understanding about God, Sin, Humanity, and Salvation. I will not wait to the end to give you the answer. I will let the cat out of the bag now and say that the resounding answer is NO! "How could you dare say that Jesus was not a Christian", you may ask. The immediate answer is found in understanding the Person of Christ. Two things about His Person make it impossible for Him to be a Christian.

The first thing the Bible tells us about Jesus is that he was incarnate. This incarnation means to be fully human in every sense - without sin. But he was a particular kind of man. He was Jewish. He participated in Jewish piety: circumcision and temple sacrifice. He approved tithing (Mt 23:23). He sacrificed at the Temple (Mk 12:41-44). He said grace before meals (Mk 6:41). He appealed to Mosaic purity laws. He wore a talit ('prayer shawl' required by the Law of Moses - Mt 9:20; Num 15:37-39). He claimed to come only for the "lost sheep of the house of Israel". He never did anything that showed he rejected being a Jewish person.

Jesus was a perfect Jew. He did not break the Law of Moses or of God. It may appear that he broke the Law when he disregarded certain oral traditions. Many of the violations of the Law of which Jesus' opponents accused him were not so real in fact. Jesus never disobeyed a directive of the Law of Moses or of God. More than that, He never failed to keep even the spirit of the Law. What he violated were known as 'hedge laws' of Judaism. They were invented by humans. The idea behind the hedge laws was to set up rules which would keep one from the possibility - or even appearance - of violating the Law of Moses. To the shock of the Jewish religious leaders, Christ broke these in order to show himself Lord over all man-made traditions and laws.

Jesus was totally obedient to God in everything. (Rom. 5:19; Heb. 5:8) He loved God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark. 12:30). Yes, He lived by faith. But, He did not live by faith alone. He lived by works as well (John 17:4). Where all the sacrifices required by Moses failed, the perfect obedience of Christ succeeded. Jesus was perfect in obedience and works. He did not sin! This makes him fundamentally different from every Christian and for that matter every Jew or Gentile on the face of the earth and for all human history.

Much more than being a nice person who loved everyone and who did good things for people, Jesus was the only perfect human who every lived. He did what everyone from Adam through Moses to David failed to do. (Rom. 5:18,19) He pleased God in every way. (John 5:30, 8:29) He was totally accepted by God through works and not by grace. He did not need a mediator but he merited the right to Heaven through his own work. Because of this, God accepted him as righteous, delivered him from death and the grave and exalted him to the highest place in Heaven.

This is much different from being a Christian. Christians are those who realize they are not perfect (Rom 3:10-18), have broken the Law of God (Rom 2:23), and must have grace in order to be accepted by God. Christians understand that they cannot trust in their own obedience to be right with God, (Rom 3:20) but must have faith in a mediator to bring them to God and Heaven (Rom 3:22-25). Therefore, Jesus could not be a 'Christian' in any biblical sense.

And in recent days, the most talk-about Christian in the world is none but Florida Church Pastor Terry Jones. He has not only brought him into controversy, but also has pushed the entire Catholic sect of Christianity into question. According to scholars, all precepts of the Roman Catholic religion contradict the Bible repeatedly. It is the largest cult in the world and most preachers will not openly say so because it is so large. For a glimpse of the atrocities committed by the Roman Catholic religion, check out the Antichrist Slideshow or do a net search on the Inquisition or the Crusades. During the Inquisition, the Roman Catholic institution killed millions. Why? Primarily to suppress any and all opposition to her heresies. Side "benefits" included taking the material wealth of its victims and showing the pope's power. The Catholic Inquisitors tortured, crippled, burned, and imprisioned millions of people. Whatever happened to love your enemies? (Matthew 5:44)

Before we get to specific problems with Catholic doctrine, let's review how this bloodthirsty organization treated a man who simply wanted to get the Bible into the hands of the common people. In the late 1300s John Wycilf translated the scriptures from the Latin. Some 40 odd years after his death, the Catholic religion dug up his bones and burned them calling him an arch-heretick. In the 1500's William Tyndale sought to translate the Bible into the language of the common people, English. He could not gain approval from the Catholic religon so he worked as an outlaw on the run in Europe, translating the Bible. He was eventually captured, condemned and executed in 1536. It is because of people like these men, Tyndale and Wycliffe, that we have the scriptures today.

The Catholic religion has a history of taking the money of poor widows in order to say masses for the dead (which do no good) and collecting the material possessions of nuns. In Italy, the heart of Roman Catholicism, there is a saying that goes, "Without money, they don't sing the mass." That trickery is evil on a number of fronts -1) the mass is blasphemous and dishonours the finished work of Christ 2) people who trust in the mass waste their money and go to hell 3) their survivors waste their money and possessions having masses said for the dead 4) the survivors go to hell and then their survivors pay for masses...the costumed curia have subverted whole houses for centuries on end collecting wealth of the coffers of the Roman Catholic institution 5) the doctrine of purgatory is a heresy because there is no such thing as purgatory--it is not in the Bible and (the apocrypha is not part of the Bible, it is a collection of spurious books) and 6) they blaspheme God when they put a monetary price on the gift of God because the Bible teaches that the gift of God is without price.

Protestants critical of the Catholic Church have questioned its reliance on what is referred to as "Sacred Tradition" (of which Sacred Scripture is a subset) by the Church.

Others countered that the notion of "Sacred Tradition" did not mean custom, but that traditio is that which is handed down from God. Catholics believe that the whole "deposit of faith" (including Sacred Scripture) was given by Christ to the Apostles. Sacred Scripture as a subset of Sacred Tradition must be interpreted in the context of the community founded by Christ.

The Catholic notion of traditio refers to what is passed down, and Catholic reliance is based partly on the Catholic Church pre-dating the New Testament.

Some claim that anti-Semitism is endorsed by the Vatican. In 1998, Pope John Paul II apologized for past actions by Christians that caused suffering to the Jewish people, calling them "our elder brothers" in the faith.

Critics reply that Pope Benedict XVI was a member of Hitler Youth, a paramilitary organization of the German Nazi Party.

There are also concerns about Pope Benedict's endorsement of the Tridentine Mass. Concern by some groups is now focused on the Good Friday liturgy according to the Tridentine missal, which contains a prayer "For the conversion of the Jews". The prayer then refers to Jewish "blindness" and prays for them to be "delivered from their darkness." After protest, the Catholic Church acted by deleting a reference to their "blindness". However, Jewish leaders are still disappointed about the revision.

The Book of Common Prayer, still widely used by Anglicans has a Good Friday prayer, affirming that God does not want "the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Hereticks, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt...that they may be saved among the remnants of the true Israelites."

After the burning of Koran by Pastor Terry Jones and his next plan to try Mohammed, has led people to raise fingers at him asking, who assigned this man to ultimately turn the entire Moslem community against United States. On the other hand, some are arguing saying, Pastor Terry Jones is trying to make quick cash with the publicity stunt. But they fear, madness of this man may put the entire humanity into serious jeopardy.

Following the burning of Koran, eminent US activist Brigitte Gabriel in a message said, "We at ACT! for America denounce and condemn, in the strongest terms, the upcoming Koran burning event organized by Pastor Terry Jones and members of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. Their proposed event is ill-conceived, counter-productive and unwelcome in a world where ideas and philosophies are best debated in the context of the issues and the facts. We find this an archaic act that serves no useful purpose, and as such is a regrettable instance of an inability or unwillingness to discuss the issues facing us in a reasonable and constructive manner.

"Pastor Jones and his congregation are stooping to the tactics of and joining the inarticulate who express their anger and opposition through destructive and spiteful acts of denigration. What is the difference between his actions and the actions of Islamists destroying synagogues in Gaza or churches and Bibles in Lebanon, Bosnia and Egypt? We are better than that as Americans."

In response to this statement, one of the ACT members named Paul Nachman (from Bozeman, Montana) wrote: "Quite apart from whether this Koran burning is a productive act or not, if you are unable to discern "the difference between [Jones's] actions and the actions of Islamists destroying synagogues in Gaza or churches ... in Lebanon, Bosnia, and Egypt," then what are you doing leading an organization like ACT for America? You should be back in kindergarten."

As a result, Paul Nachman has been ousted from ACT. The statement from Brigitte Gabriel or President Obama equally shows that, none of the sensible Americans are happy with what Terry Jones is doing. Terry Jones not only put Americans at risk, but has also put the Catholic Church as well as Jesus' religious identity into question.

DISCLAIMER: Opinion expressed in this article is solely of the author and may not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Weekly Blitz.

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Jesus was not a Christian

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