Abstain from meat for Jesus? (Lent)

Piers Morgan blasts vegan filmmakers who claim Jesus was vegetarian

(Piers Morgan Uncensored) April 1, 2024: Piers Morgan Uncensored is joined by filmmakers Kip Anderson and Kameron Waters to discuss their latest documentary Christspiracy, which presents evidence that has been uncovered that suggests Jesus Christ was a vegan vegetarian. Piers Morgan doesn't buy it, arguing instead for killing animals, offering blood sacrifices, and devouring slaughtered flesh in the name of God -- do you?

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 00:57 - Christspiracy trailer and introduction to Kip and Kameron
• 03:19 - "Jesus clearly ate a lot of fish," didn't he?
• 06:15 - What was served at the Last Supper? [Passover seder]
• 09:15 - "Give me ONE piece of evidence that proves Jesus was a vegetarian"
• 10:45 - Piers accuses Kip and Kameron of making the film to make money
• 12:31 - Would Jesus kill an animal? How would he do it? Knife, bare hands, gun?
• 13:53 - Piers asks Kip and Kameron is they eat avocadoes and almonds
• 17:25 - "As a Christian, how can you eat [tortured] factory-farmed meat, Piers?"
• 19:20 - Are Kip and Kameron being hypocritical, or are they actually right but we don't want to hear it?

Subscribe to stay up-to-date on all Uncensored content. #piersmorgan #jesus #vegan

How would Jesus kill an animal? Was Jesus vegan?

(Bananiac) Christspiracy | Was Jesus Christ Vegan?

Heated debate between filmmaker and theologian

(PLANT BASED NEWS) Nov. 5, 2024: 🎥 Video originally from @theellenfisherpodcast. Watch the full episode: Was Jesus Actually a Vegan? DEBATE: C... Read more: ellenfisher.com/podcasts...

In this thought-provoking conversation, Kam Waters, co-creator of the documentary Christspiracy, joins Tony Jones from The Reverend Hunter Podcast to debate a fascinating question: Was Jesus a vegan? Kam’s documentary, Christspiracy, follows his personal journey as a devout Christian exploring the ethics of killing and consuming animals as if they were not living, feeling beings and claiming God is to blame for telling them to do it. Raised in the Bible Belt, Kam grew up Christian but began questioning the teachings on animal ethics, sparking a worldwide quest to find answers. In the film, he interviews theologians, archeologists, Christian farmers, and others to explore the question, "Is there a spiritual way to kill an animal?"

Tony Jones, a theologian, writer, and avid murderer of animals who calls himself a hunter, enters the discussion with a different perspective. As the author of The God of Wild Places: Rediscovering the Divine in the Untamed Outdoors, Tony believes that hunting down and butchering animals for blood and food is a primal religious practice God likes that has been lost in modern times. Teaching at Fuller Theological Seminary and living in Minnesota with his family, Tony challenges the Christspiracy team’s views, arguing that humans have a God-given right, if not an obligation, to use animals for sustenance.

In this debate, the two passionate men tackle challenging questions: Did God place animals on Earth for humans to kill and eat, becoming themselves like wild beasts who tear others apart? What does "dominion [stewardship] over the animals" truly mean? And could Jesus have advocated for compassion towards all living things and all animals, or is eating them without restraint part of our divine inheritance?

Read more about the film and watch the FULL FILM here: plantbasednews.org/culture/fi...

• Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Sheldon S. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

When Jesus walked in India (video)

When Jesus Walked in India | The Christ Series

(Spirit Science) In this episode of The Christ Series, we delve into one of the most intriguing and lesser-known chapters of Jesus’s life: his journey to India, drawing from historical accounts, ancient written manuscripts stored at Hemis Gompa, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Ladakh in the Himalayas, and other spiritual traditions.

• 00:00 - The connection exists
• 00:19 - The Star in the East
• 01:47 - Young Issa in India
• 03:38 - Issa in Nepal
• 04:20 - Other references
• 05:39 - The Yoga science
• 07:06 - Unity of East and West
• 08:58 - Master your meditations

This episode explores the possibility that Jesus, known as Issa in the East (and Isa in Islam), traveled through India, Nepal, Persia, and Tibet during his 18 “lost years.” Along this remarkable pilgrimage, he is said to have studied the Vedas (ancient Knowledge Books of the Indus Valley Civilization, now the holy scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhist sutras, and yogic practices, immersing himself in the profound spiritual teachings of the Mystic East.

As we trace his steps through sacred cities like Puri and the majestic Himalayan peaks, we uncover the transformative impact of this journey on his teachings. From challenging orthodoxy to sharing wisdom with the lower castes, even escaping danger from Zoroastrian priests (Parsis), Jesus’s story is both awe-inspiring and very human.

His lessons on inward prayer, fasting, and seeking the inner Kingdom of God within echo the meditative practices of yoga and the universal truths of self-realization and divine communion.

This episode also highlights the convergence of Eastern and Western traditions, showcasing how Jesus’s spiritual mission transcends cultural and religious boundaries. It calls us to recognize our shared spiritual heritage, bridging the depths of Eastern spirituality with the practicality of Western ideals.

Embark on this cinematic (AI recreated) exploration of faith and discovery, where the teachings of Jesus meet the wisdom of the East, illuminating a universal path to love (ahimsa), harmony, and divine purpose.

—Spirit Science tagged products: Learn more. The Hermetica: Rebirth of Wisdom paperback ($17.00, shop.spiritsciencecentral.com). Enhance the journey of self-discovery with the Muse Headset. Get 20% off to deepen meditation, unlocking the wisdom within: choosemuse.com/spiritverse.

• Spirit Science, 1/29/25; Pat Macpherson, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Jesus in Buddhism: Buddha, Devadatta

Jesus in Buddhism: Jesus as a bodhisattva

(BuddhaVerse) Some Buddhists perceive Jesus as a bodhisattva — a being trying to become fully spiritually enlightened to "save" others by guiding them to spiritual enlightenment, as all beings at some time or other are striving for liberation from suffering and rebirth.

• [The Ayutthaya Kingdom was in ancient Siam (modern Thailand), which resisted Christian missionaries and their Catholic (Vatican) hegemony.]
• Where did Jesus get his famous Seamless saffron robe [Vajrayana-like Buddhist tunic smock like some swamis, such as Parahamsa Yogananda, use] of Jesus?
• Why do swamis wear pajama robes rather than real robes? 
• [Who is Devadatta? He was once a great monk who made the mistake of pursuing magical powers rather than liberation, squandering his great fortune to know and be close to the Buddha. Devadatta is the Judas Iscariot figure in Buddhism who, rather than practicing for awakening, grew an ego so big he tried to usurp the Buddha and take over the Sangha ("spiritual community" the Buddha had built, which may have had 80,000 or more members since many of those members were members because of their attainment of the paths-and-fruits, and the majority of them would have been devas (angelic light beings visiting or living on the human plane) rather than humans on Earth. Devadatta was the Buddha's cousin, the brother of his former wife (Bimba Devi, known as Princess Yasodhara, with a long history of envy and rivalry with the buddha-to-be or the Bodhisatta, as the Buddha referred to himself when talking about times and events before his great enlightenment). Devadatta held a grudge, and though he did much good in becoming a monk and practicing for 40 years or so, he was rotten and one of the very worst people in the history of Buddhism, almost on par with Mara Namuci. He was not the Buddha's brother, whose name was Nanda, the sibling of their sister Sundari Nanda, who became enlightened monastics like so many of the Scythians/Sakas/Shakyians did, even Devadatta's sister Ven. Yasodhara (who is obscured in Buddhism as badly as "Mary" is in Christianity, hidden by the use of many names to refer to her: Rahulamata or "Rahula's Mother"), Bhadda, Bhadda Kaccana Theri, Bhaddakacca, Bhadda Sundari, Bimba Devi, and Subhadakka, who after the Buddha's return home became a nun, a knowledgeable disciple of the Dharma, an unbeatable debater, and a respected and beloved fully enlightened elder (theri) Buddhist nun, along with the Buddha's mother and many Scythian/Saka princesses and family members, including their son Ven. Rahula, "foremost in doing quiet good."]

Some beings commit to striving not only for full awakening (arahantship) but also supreme or perfect awakening (samma-sam-buddhahood, Sanskrit samyak-sam-buddha) to be able to effectively help others gain realization or bodhi and achieve liberation or nirvana, which is the extinction of ignorance because only an illusion came into and goes out of being.

• [One can argue that there are three types of buddhas: (1) the fully supremely enlightened, (2) the fully enlightened nonteaching or "silent" (pacceka) buddha, and (3) the fully enlightened personal buddha (arahant). All three experience the exact same awakening to the truth, but the first two have special knowledge, and the first has special abilities (the ten powers) beyond. What makes a buddha so extraordinary is that he (as there seems to be no shes because any being bent on supreme enlightenment, a bodhisatta, needs two things to succeed, at least according to Theravada Buddhism, and in doing so will repeatedly be reborn as a male, as the Dalai Lama and Vajrayana Buddhism agree with the ancient Theravada commentaries. Those two are a vow of strong determination to achieve self-awakening at a time when the Dharma no longer exists and no one is being liberated and a sure prediction of success by a current buddha. When the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, aka "Shakyamuni" or the "Sage of the Scythians/Sakas," determined to become a buddha, he did so in the presence of Dipankara Buddha aeons ago, or at least many generations ago as kappa/kalpa may also refer to an ordinary human lifespan at the time, and this span is very variable, going from less than 100 years up to 80,000 years, Dipankara Buddha knew his determination and gave him a prediction of eventual success. How long it takes to eventually succeed is hard to fathom and/or calculate. If a kappa/kalpa is translated as it normally is, it can be millions or hundreds of millions or hundreds of billions of years, astronomical time, archeological time, epochs, ages, which does not make sense since in that deep past there were Vedas ("Knowledge Books") and Sanskrit  language texts and Brahmins (brahmanas) and wandering ascetics (shramanas) and things that seem like much more recent developments on the human plane, which would not seem to have existed millions and billions of years ago. But that is the official Theravada line. We prefer to think that buddhas and tirthankaras like Mahavira, the Nigantha Nataputta (aka Vardhamana), the founder of Jainism, arise much more frequently than that, something more in the range of being separated by thousands or tens of thousands of years rather than aeons. The historical Buddha Gautama named 24 or so previous buddhas and many pacceka buddhas, never suggesting to anyone they pursue those careers but constantly, daily, encouraging and helping countless human and deva beings to become arhats or fully enlightened disciples as quickly as possible. Why? Everything can wait, but our pursuit of wisdom and compassion cannot wait. The opportunity to ever hear and practice the Dharma/Dhamma is so incredibly rare that we have to seize the day and practice, learn, hear, and ask teachers NOW. There's only now.]

His selfless actions and willingness to sacrifice himself for others align with the ideals of a Buddhist bodhisattva [and his training in ancient Tibet/ now India at Hemis Buddhist Monastery in Ladakh in the Himalayas, where Vajrayana (a form of Mahayana) Buddhist lamas are taught to strive for bodhisattva careers rather than personal enlightenment and liberation.

• See the work of Nicolas Notovitch, Swami Abhedananda, Holger Kersten, American cult leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet (The Lost Years of Jesus: Documentary Evidence of Jesus' 17-Year Journey to the East), and many others for documentation concerning the "lost years" of Jesus of Nazareth or Saint Issa as he was known in the East or Isa as he is referred to in Islam].

The Dalai Lama has repeatedly expressed admiration for Jesus Christ [who is explained with shocking clarity as a mystery school leader by Ancient Greek biblical scholar Dr. Ammon Hillman], calling him a great teacher of love and compassion. He emphasizes that Christianity and [Mahayana] Buddhism can learn from each other despite doctrinal differences.

Download new app from Google Play and get notifications, daily quotes from the Buddha, guided meditation methods, articles about Buddhist wisdom, and suttas (sutras, discourses) from the Pali language canon. Discover inner peace, cultivate mindfulness (sati), and unlock the infinite wisdom of the Buddha with this app. APP: play.google.com/store/apps...

Thanks for watching. This channel is new and needs support. On it find many videos on the history and philosophical teachings of Buddhism. Please subscribe to support the teachings of the Buddha on YouTube. Website: buddhaverse.site.

• BuddhaVerse (video), Jan. 8, 2025; most of text and all commentary by Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

A Gnostic Jesus for the Holidays

Ginger Jesus (TziganeArt/DeviantArt) Spaceman ET?

Gnostic story of Jesus: What we were never told

(Occulys) Dec. 3, 2024: Who really was "Jesus" (Issa, Messiah/Maitreya, Isa, Ieoeus, Y'shua Ben Yusuf, Joshua, Son of Zeus, Emmanuel)? To most, he’s the savior who died (killed by temple Jews or Roman pagans) for humanity’s sins. But to the Gnostics, an ancient group of mystical Christians, Jesus wasn’t here to atone for sin. He was here to reveal a mind-blowing truth about the world and our place in it.

⌛ CHAPTERS

• 0:00 Introduction
• 01:07 Who were the Gnostics?
• 03:00 The Gnostic Jesus
• 04:17 The teachings and miracles of Jesus
• 05:42 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
• 07:21 The betrayal of Judas
• 08:10 The Last Supper and Eucharist
• 09:55 The Crucifixion and Resurrection
• 12:05 Outro

This video begins to uncover the story of Jesus through the lens of Gnostic texts like The Gospel of Thomas and The Gospel of Philip.

[See further the amazing work of Bible scholars like Dr. Elaine Pagels, Dr. Bart Ehrman, Dr. Francesca change-your-last-name-already Scrvyysthhyllk, and the possibly demonically-possessed but in any case genius classicist and Ancient Greek scholar Dr. DC Ammon Hillman because, sadly, the scholars who try to reveal the truth of biblical matters all get condemned as madmen, heretics, and Satanists for not telling mainstream Christians what they want to hear but what the textual evidence actually shows. What Christians accept on blind faith and find most comforting to their cultural way of thinking is dangerously wrong, but try to tell them that. It comforts them to rest on delusion, but who can say anything?]

From the Garden of Gethsemane to the Last Supper and the resurrection, this video explores how Gnostics saw Jesus as a cosmic teacher, a liberator of the soul, and the key to awakening the divine spark within us.

Get ready to challenge everything we thought we knew about Jesus, Christianity, and current Bible interpretations and discover a side of his story that’s purposely been hidden and kept from us for centuries.

🎓 SOURCES

• Gospel of Thomas
• Gospel of Philip
• Gospel of Judas
• Second Treatise of the Great Seth 
• gnosis.org
• ehrmanblog.org

🎶 Music used in the video: "Background Music - Gunpowder" by CO.AG "Background Music - Game of Thrones" by CO.AG "Wonderful Things - Cinematic Music" by CO.AG Licensed under Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...

Some of the images are hand colored by Adam McLean and taken from the alchemy website www.alchemywebsite.com (Copyright Adam McLean 1997-2011). Thanks to Adam McLean for beautiful work. All other images and clips are in the public domain. If I have used an image or clip that you own, please contact me at the email address below. 🤝 Contact information: occulys@gmail.com. #gnosticism #gnostic #AncientHistory #history #mythology #spirituality #mysticism #alchemy

Harvard: Historical Jesus never existed

Harvard philologist says "no historical Jesus"

(MythVision Podcast) Aug. 3, 2022 Harvard philologist says there was "no historical Jesus." His name is Dr. Carl A. P. Ruck (born Dec. 8, 1935, in Bridgeport, Connecticut). He is a professor in the Classical Studies Department at Boston University. He received his B.A. at Yale University, his master's at the University of Michigan, and his doctoral (Ph.D.) degree at Harvard University. He lives in Hull, Massachusetts.

Prof. Ruck is best known for his work along with other scholars in mythology and religion on the sacred role of entheogens (that bring out the divine from within), which are psychoactive plants that induce altered states of consciousness. They have been used in religious and shamanic rituals for millennia.

Dr. Ruck's focus has been on the use of entheogens in classical Western culture, as well as their historical influence on modern Western religions. He currently teaches mythology at Boston University that presents this theory in depth. #mythvision #historicaljesus #mythicist

Sign up for Dr. Bart Ehrman's course "The Unknown Gospels" 👉 mythvisionpodcast.com/unknowngospels. Sign up for the 7-hour resurrection debate between Dr. Ehrman and Dr. Mike Licona (mythvisionpodcast.com/res...). Sign up for Dr. Bart D. Ehrman's Genesis "In the Beginning" webinar (mythvisionpodcast.com/gen...). Sign up for Dr. Bart D. Ehrman's Christmas webinar (mythvisionpodcast.com/chr...). Sign up for Dr. Bart D. Ehrman's "Did Jesus call himself God" webinar (mythvisionpodcast.com/bart).

Consider helping support MythVision's work by joining the Patreon or a one-time donation through links below. 🔥 GoFundMe link for MythVision to go to Israel 🔥 gofund.me/23b43d8a

Jesus Lived in India: His Unknown Life

Jesus Lived in India: His Unknown Life Before and After the Crucifixion

Author Holger Kersten has 4.5 out of 5 stars with 336 ratings. Jesus has an unknown life before his crucifixion. We all know that. But he had an unknown life after that crucifixion? Nearly no one but Nicolas Notovitch and the historical figures involved knew that.

Why has Christianity chosen to ignore and suppress its connections to the religions of the East and to repeatedly dismiss the numerous claims that Jesus (aka Issa in Buddhism and Isa in Islam) spent a large part of his life in India?

This compelling research presents irrefutable evidence that Jesus Christ did indeed live in India, dying there in old age at 80. It is the result of many years of investigative research.

Jesus Lived in India takes the reader to all the historical sites connected with Jesus in Israel, the Middle East, Buddhist Afghanistan (ancient Gandhara, Scythia, Saka), and India, which was historically much larger, encompassing parts of Tibet, China, all of Pakistan, and parts of Afghanistan in Central Asia.

As well as revealing age-old links between the Israelites and the East, the evidence found by theologian Holger Kersten points to the following startling conclusions:

• In his youth Jesus followed the ancient Silk Road to India (with a band of Jewish merchants who regularly made that journey to a Jewish enclave in the Himalayas).
• While there Jesus studies Buddhism, adopting its tenets and becoming a spiritual master.

• 

  Why would Roman soldier take a bribe?

  Jesus survives the crucifixion [because his disciples pay off the Roman guards to cut him down and make sure he does not die, which usually takes three days at which time one suffocates from fluids in the lungs, which is why one good soldier stabs him in the side with what came to be called the "Spear of Destiny") when Jesus was only on the cross for a few hours].
• After the "resurrection" Jesus returns to India to die in old age.
• Jesus is buried in Srinagar, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where he continues to be revered as a saintly man named Issa. The tomb of Jesus still exists in Kashmir for anyone to see.
• Jesus Lived in India (amazon.com)
• Holger Kersten, Jesus Lived in India, 12/31/01 (amazon.com): Shauna Schwartz, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Jesus is the 'Black Nazarene' in Philippines

MSN, 1/9/24; Pfc. Sandoval, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit

The Black Nazarene is remembered in Asia and paraded through Manila, Philippines.

.

Of course I was Black from Africa

The Black Nazarene (Spanish El Nazareno Negro, Filipino Poóng Itím na Nazareno [1]) is a life-size statue of a dark-skinned Black Jesus Christ carrying the True Cross.

It is usually enshrined in the Minor Basilica and National Shrine of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila [2], but it comes out a few times a year, one of them being Jan. 9th.

• VIDEO: Filipino Catholics mob Black Nazarene procession

The image was reputedly carved by an unknown Mexican artist in the 16th century then brought to the Philippines in 1606 [2, 3].

Black? Why, just because I'm from Africa?

It depicts Jesus en route to his crucifixion (an Imperial Roman punishment reserved exclusively for political prisoners who claimed to be messiahs or dared to challenge Roman rule.

Pious believers claim that physically touching the image can bring miracles and cure diseases [2, 3, 4].

The original image or its replica is given a religious procession three times a year:

• January 9 — the official Feast of the Black Nazarene commemorating the translation of the image from Intramuros. More

• VIDEO: Filipino Catholics join Black Nazarene procession
• New Messiah is another Jew: Menachem Mendel Schneerson
• Biden draws sharp reaction for saying he's 'quietly working' to get Israel out of Gaza (msn.com)

Jesus had a twin brother, Thomas (video)

Religion for Breakfast, 9/14/23; Sheldon S., Seth Auberon, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thomas: The Secret Twin of Jesus?

What did DaVinci think about Lord J?

There goes that whole "only" begotten son business, it seems. But a "god" (deva), to be a god, needs to be "reborn among the gods" -- who live on many planes superior to the human plane -- and this is exactly what the Sanskrit term devaputra (Pali language devaputta) means -- "offspring of the devas" or, literally, "son of god."

The Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, not a Lost or Gnostic Gospel but thought of as one by some) is an extra-canonical [1] "sayings gospel." It was discovered near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, in Dec. 1945 among a group of books known as the Nag Hammadi library. More

The contents of the Nag Hammadi codices were written in the Coptic [Egyptian] language. The best-known of these works is the Gospel of Thomas, of which these codices contain the only complete text. After the discovery, scholars recognized that fragments of these secret sayings attributed to [a koan-spouting Zen-like] Jesus appeared in manuscripts discovered at Oxyrhynchus in 1898 (P. Oxy. 1), and matching quotations were recognized in other early Christian sources. More

• Thomas the Twin Apostle?
• Thomas wrote a [better] gospel of secrets

Thomas ("Twin") really was the doubting apostle

(ReligionForBreakfast) Sept. 14, 2023: Most scholars agree that Jesus [of Nazareth, aka Jesus Christ, "Y'Shua the Anointed One"] had a brother named James. But many ancient Christians thought he had another brother, an identical twin brother named [Jude or] Judas Didymus Thomas. Where did this belief come from? And what is its significance?

• Sign up for New Insights into the New Testament, featuring ten biblical scholars, including UNC Chapel Hill Prof. Bart D. Ehrman

Bibliography

• Gregory Riley, "Didymos Judas Thomas: The Twin Brother of Jesus," in Kimberley Patton (ed.), Gemini and the Sacred: Twins and Twinship in Religion and Mythology, Bloomsbury Academic, 2023.
• M. David Litwa, “I Will Become Him”: Homology and Deification in the Gospel of Thomas, Journal of Biblical Literature, SBL Vol. 134, No. 2, 2015. pp. 427-447

The Jesus of Fantasy vs. History (Reza Aslan)

Reza Aslan, The Aspen Institute, July 14, 2015; Pat Macpherson, CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Jesus of History versus the Christ of Faith

Daring to question a sacred cow, 2012

(The Aspen Institute) Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, Dr. Reza Aslan, Ph.D., sheds new light on one of history’s most influential and enigmatic figures by examining Jesus within the context of the times in which he is said to have lived: the age of zealotry.

Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against historical sources, Dr. Aslan describes

• a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves;
• an exorcist and faith healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity secret;
• the seditious “King of the Jews,” whose promise of liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his lifetime.

Dr. Aslan explores why the early Christian Church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious [Black] revolutionary and grapples with the riddle of how Jesus understood himself.

Speaker: Scholar of Christianity Dr. Reza Aslan

Bible study with comedian Julia Sweeney

SNL Comedian Julia Sweeney via CC; Seth Auberon, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
 

Letting Go of God (juliasweeney.com)

I think this is my favorite show. It was the hardest one to get right, and it’s a difficult topic. Letting Go of God is about how I let go of god. I was raised Catholic and for the most part, I was a happy believer and felt great affinity and allegiance to the Catholic culture. But then I looked into it, and after much agonizing reflection, I was born again. My eyes were opened. I saw the world in a scientific, natural way. It was painful and enlightening and had profound effects on how I thought about the world.

You bitch. I might smite you.

REACTION (K Panda) I cannot even begin to tell you how much your story helped me. I came across it by accident while struggling desperately to hold on to my faith. My journey was very similar to yours and so much of this just resonated so strongly with me. This piece was instrumental in me finally admitting to myself that I didn't believe anymore -- and that that was okay! Once I let go, this huge burden was lifted and everything after has been easy. Thank you so much for sharing your story.

Reza Aslan: Tell Them, I Am/Fox News (video)

Dr. Reza Aslan, Fox News via YY; Tell Them, I Am; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly

Reza Aslan on Ep. 5 of "Tell Them, I Am" celebrating Ramadam in the U.S. (SCPR.org)

.

The most embarrassing interview Fox News has ever done?

While this formerly-Christian now Muslim author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth explains clearly, "I am an expert with a Ph.D. in the history of religions including the New Testament," the Fox News Religion Correspondent Lauren Green still seems to hear "I am Al-Qaeda."

Fox News: where bigotry and Islamophobia are expected. This excruciatingly shameless and abusive interview takes it to a new level. But Christian biblical scholar Dr. Aslan does a solid job pushing back and refuting the interviewer's propaganda (Remi Kanazi).

Prof. Reza Aslan, Ph.D., on The Young Turks with Host Cenk Uygur

(TYT Interviews, Aug. 5, 2013) Reza Aslan became notorious after an interview with Fox News' Lauren Green in what is now thought to be one of the worst, most biased interviews on TV ever. Aslan tried but was ultimately unable to talk about what his book actually says.

A great book on Christianity: Zealot

In an interview segment that has to be seen to be believed, Lauren Green, host of Fox News' faith-oriented program "Spirited Debate," demanded to know how Iranian-American author Reza Aslan -- who is a well-known Muslim -- could have written his book, Zealot, from an unbiased perspective. 

The interview prompted BuzzFeed political writer Andrew Kaczynski to ask, "Is this the most embarrassing interview Fox News has ever done?" Appearing to mistake Christianity and Islam for rival baseball teams rather than intertwined and connected Abrahamic faiths, Hostess Green questioned Dr. Aslan's motives for writing a book about "the founder of Christianity."

"Well, to be clear," Prof. Aslan replied, "I am a scholar of religions with four degrees, including one in the New Testament, and fluency in biblical Greek, who has been studying the origins of Christianity for two decades, who also just happens to be a Muslim."

Reza Aslan on KPCC's "Tell Them, I Am"

He went on to patiently explain to Green that his book is written from the perspective of a historian, NOT that of an advocate for Islam.

But even as he tried to establish to her that his book is not a hit piece against some kind of rival religious figure, Green didn't appear to be listening, but rather scanning her iPad for more antagonistic questions to fire at the historian.

"There's another chat coming," she said, "and I wanted to get this on before we end this interview. Taylor King said, 'So your book is written with clear bias, and you're trying to say it's academic? That's like having a Democrat write a book about why Reagan wasn't a good Republican. It just doesn't work.' What do you say to that?"

"Well, it would be like a Democrat with a Ph.D. in Reagan who has been studying his life and history for two decades, writing a book about Reagan," Dr. Aslan replied.

"But then why would a Democrat want to promote Democracy by writing about a Republican?" Green asks. Dr. Aslan, showing great forbearance, replies that as a scholar who writes about religions, he writes about Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other faiths.

On Twitter, conservatives are demanding to know why Prof. Aslan didn't write about Mohamed, the Islamic prophet. "C'mon, man, if you wrote a book critical of Mohamed or presenting him differently you could get killed," tweeted one.

Do we have an anti-intellectual streak?

"I already wrote that book," Prof. Aslan replies. "It's called No god but God. And I'm still here." The flap began when FoxNews.com published an opinion piece incorrectly asserting that Dr. Aslan's book is critical of Jesus Christ, but never divulges that Dr. Aslan is of the Islamic faith. In fact, Zealot says on its second page that Dr. Aslan is Muslim.

This was written by David Ferguson, published in his text entitled "Fox News baffled that Muslim author could write book about Jesus" (rawstory.com/rs/2013/07/28...).

• Andrew Kacynski shares this video on Buzzfeed: buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczyns... 
• If one is open to the Islamic view on how to deal with the "prophets," one may read that the depiction of Jesus on his book cover might be unacceptable or aniconic (salon.com/2013/08/03/the_1...)

Everything we know about Jesus is wrong

Reza Aslan, Abby Martin (Breaking the Set/RT); Pat Macpherson, Crystal Q., Wisdom Quarterly

Why Everything You Think You Know about Jesus is Wrong: Interview with Author Reza Aslan

Abby Martin interviews Reza Aslan (April 2014), historian and author of the best-selling book Zealot: the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, discussing how he arrived at the conclusion that Jesus of Nazareth was a revolutionary political leader rather than the peaceful prophet characterized by mainstream culture.

• Breaking the Set @ fb.me/JournalistAbbyMartin 
• Abby Martin @ twitter.com/AbbyMartin

The Jesus of History vs. the Christ of Faith

The Aspen Institute, 7/14/15; Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Jesus of History versus the Christ of Faith

Zealot: Life & Times of Jesus

Sifting through centuries of myth-making, Professor of Christianity Reza Aslan sheds new light on one of history’s most influential and enigmatic figures by examining Rabbi Jesus of Nazareth, the figurehead and supposed founder of Christianity (Jesuism) within the context of the times in which he lived: the Age of Zealotry. Balancing the Jesus of the Gospels against historical sources, Prof. Aslan describes a man of peace who exhorted his followers to arm themselves with deadly weapons, an exorcist and faith healer who urged his disciples to keep his identity secret, and the seditious “King of the Jews,” whose promise of political liberation from Rome went unfulfilled in his lifetime. Prof. Aslan explores why the early Christian Church preferred to promulgate an image of Jesus as a peaceful spiritual teacher rather than a politically conscious revolutionary and grapples with the riddle of how Rabbi Jesus understood or thought of himself.

WARNING: Do not listen! Filthy anti-Jesus music!

(Crass) Eve Libertine spoken word, "Reality Asylum"

How Jesus and Christianity were fabricated

Acharya S (aka Dorothy Milne Murdock); Jesus Christ Superstar; Editors, Wisdom Quarterly

1973 film by Norman Jewison based on rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice

Acharya S (aka D.M. Murdock)

Controversial and explosive, The Christ Conspiracy marshals an enormous amount of startling evidence.

It shows that the "religion" of Christianity and the literary character "Jesus Christ" were fictions created by members of various religions, secret societies, and mystery schools.

This was done in order to unify the Roman Empire under one official "state religion."

Christ Conspiracy: Greatest Story Ever Sold

This powerful book of scholarship asserts that these groups drew upon a multitude of myths and rituals that already existed long before the Christian Era.

They reworked them into the story the Christian religion presents today -- known to most Westerners as "the Bible."

Author "Acharya S" (aka Dorothy Milne Murdock, 1961-Dec. 25th, 2015) makes the case that there was no actual person named Jesus.

Rather, several characters were rolled into ONE mythic being inspired by the deities:

• Mithras
• Greek Heracles
• Roman Hercules
• Dionysus
• and many others of the Roman Empire.

Murdock demonstrates that the story of Jesus, as portrayed in the Christian Gospels, is nearly identical in detail to those of the earlier "savior-gods" Krishna (Hindus) and Horus (Egyptians).

Murdock concludes that it is certain that Jesus was neither original nor unique, nor was he the divine revelation we make him out to be.

Rather, Christ represents an ancient body of knowledge derived from celestial observations and natural forces [Jordan Maxwell calls "astro-theology" explained in Peter Joseph's Zeitgeist series].

• The Roman conspiracy to INVENT Jesus Christ (American Bible scholar Joseph Atwill)

A book that will initiate heated debate and inner struggle, it is intelligently written and referenced. The only book of its kind, it is destined for controversy.

(Mr. Show with Bob and David/HBO) "Jeepers Creepers Semi-Star"

Chapters in the book The Christ Conspiracy include:

• 

  Capitalizing on the same great story again

  The Quest for Jesus Christ
• The Holy Forgery Mill
• Biblical Sources
• Non-Biblical Sources
• Further Evidence of a Fraud
• Physical Evidence
• The Myth of Hebrew Monotheism
• The Characters
• Astrology and the Bible
• The Son of God is the Sun of God
• The Disciples are the Signs of the Zodiac
• The Gospel Story
• Other Elements and Symbols of the Christian Myth
• The Patriarchs and Saints are the Gods of Other Cultures
• The Meaning of Revelation
• The Bible, Sex, and Drugs
• Essenes, Zealots, and Zadokites
• Alexandria: Crucible of Christianity
• Enter Rome
• The Making of a Myth

Christ vs. Jesus of Nazareth

This book contains a table of contents, bibliography, index, and includes over 1,100 citations and more than 30 illustrations.

Primary sources discussed include the Bible, Dead Sea Scrolls, Talmud, Book of Enoch, Gospel of the Hebrews, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of the Infancy, Epistle of Barnabas and Shepherd of Hermas.

The works of Josephus, Pliny, Tacitus, Suetonius, Justin Martyr, Marcion, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Augustine, Eusebius, Porphyry, Celsus, and others are also included. More