As we draw on the scriptures from the previous revelations from God on Sifter of Dust, we wanted to additionally highlight the history of their central figures as well, starting with Jesus Christ and the Gospels of Jesus.  This may seem like a strange place to start, given the ubiquitous presence of Christianity in western societies, but statistics show that, even among people who are nominally Christian, more than half have never read the Bible and are not personally familiar with its contents.  What follows is a brief description of the life of Jesus and the Gospels that describe his work and sayings. 

The Gospels of Jesus are the accounts of Jesus’ life as recorded from four different perspectives, those of authors known as Mark, Matthew, Luke and John. The Gospels record not only the story of Jesus but the words He spoke in delivering His revelation.  The Gospels are a portion of the “New Testament”, which also includes the letters of the Apostle Paul to the early Christian communities, and other supplementary texts.  The “Bible” has two main parts- the “New Testament”, and the “Hebrew Bible”- (what Christians call the “Old Testament”).  The Hebrew Bible tells the story of the Jewish people and the Revelations of Moses and other prophets. 

Jesus Christ was not a priest or a rabbi by training and was a “lay person” from a religious perspective, having worked as a carpenter. As far as the Gospels tell us, He had none of the qualities that tend to make people famous. He didn’t write a book and had no specific personal talents or skills. He was not wealthy. He never owned a home, never married, and had no children. He taught his religion for only 3 years, during which time He had to move around frequently because He was under the constant threat of entrapment and persecution.  When He died, he was only about 32 years of age. Roman histories of the time make only passing mention of Him, and even then only to say that He was someone who should be regarded as inconsequential.

Those facts are all that much more surprising when you consider the inconceivably large influence He has had on almost every culture in the world.  The source of that influence is His incredible words and the effect that they have had on people’s hearts for centuries.  He spoke with the Voice of God, but used simple metaphors and stories to explain spiritual truths.  Those words and those truths are still as profound and important as they were when He spoke them.  And they are almost entirely “spiritual’ in character.  He did not focus on social laws, as His mission was to put the spirit of faith and love back in peoples hearts after they had become excessively attached to the formal ritualistic aspects of religion. 

Ironically, almost all the things that people say in criticism of the Christian religion today- feeling like Christians are judgmental, or not broad-minded, or too ritualistic- are the exact opposite of what Christ actually taught.  Christ’s message was a message of spiritual liberation, love of all people, and the love of God expressed in service for others. That’s not a criticism of modern day Christians, who often beautifully reflect the spirit of Christ’s teachings, but a point made to express how important it is to read the words for yourself and not rely on modern “popular” perceptions. 

 

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