Brother of Yeshua

Segment 1

I think this is as good a time as any to describe the personal appearance of the man. Now in physique he was neither tall nor short, but of average height; not thin, but moderately plump; his face was round, and not bad looking, for he had good color, even when he fasted for two days. To make a long description short, he much resembled Domitian, Vespasian's son.... Now such was Justinian in appearance; but his character was something I could not fully describe. For he was at once villainous and amenable; as people say colloquially, a moron. He was never truthful with anyone, but always guileful in what he said and did, yet easily hoodwinked by any who wanted to deceive him. His nature was an unnatural mixture of folly and wickedness. What in olden times a peripatetic philosopher said was also true of him, that opposite qualities combine in a man as in the mixing of colors. I will try to portray him, however, insofar as I can fathom his complexity. This Emperor, then, was deceitful, devious, false, hypocritical, two-faced, cruel, skilled in dissembling his thought, never moved to tears by either joy or pain, though he could summon them artfully at will when the occasion demanded, a liar always, not only offhand, but in writing, and when he swore sacred oaths to his subjects in their very hearing. Then he would immediately break his agreements and pledges, like the vilest of slaves, whom indeed only the fear of torture drives to confess their perjury. A faithless friend, he was a treacherous enemy, insane for murder and plunder, quarrelsome and revolutionary, easily led to anything, but never willing to listen to good counsel, quick to plan mischief and carry it out, but finding even the hearing of anything good distasteful to his ears. How could anyone put Justinian's ways into words? These and many even worse vices were disclosed in him as in no other mortal: nature seemed to have taken the wickedness of all other men combined and planted it in this man's soul. And besides this, he was too prone to listen to accusations; and too quick to punish. For he decided such cases without full examination, naming the punishment when he had heard only the accuser's side of the matter. Without hesitation he wrote decrees for the plundering of countries, sacking of cities, and slavery of whole nations, for no cause whatever.

Segment 2

So that if one wished to take all the calamities which had befallen the Romans before this time and weigh them against his crimes, I think it would be found that more men had been murdered by this single man than in all previous history. He had no scruples about appropriating other people's property, and did not even think any excuse necessary, legal or illegal, for confiscating what did not belong to him. And when it was his, he was more than ready to squander it in insane display, or give it as an unnecessary bribe to the barbarians. In short, he neither held on to any money himself nor let anyone else keep any: as if his reason were not avarice, but jealousy of those who had riches. Driving all wealth from the country of the Romans in this manner, he became the cause of universal poverty. Now this was the character of Justinian, so far as I can portray it. Translated by Richard Atwater, in Procopius, Secret History, (Chicago: P. Covicii; New York: Covicii Friedal, 1927), reprinted by University of Michigan Press, 1961

Segment 3

The historian Procopius, who wrote the above narrative, was appointed secretary to General Belisarius in 527 C.E. The General was Justinian's right-hand man and personal confidant. Procopius also wrote the well known Histories in eight books, the Buildings of Justinian in six books and the Anecdota. For obvious reasons, the Anecdota was not published until after the death of Procopius. As a historian and chronicler of Justinian and his court, he was constrained to write only positive accounts while everyone concerned was still alive. Secretly he wrote the Anecdota to expose the utter immorality and disregard for decency expressed in the lives of Justinian and Theodora. The Encyclopedia Britannica says:

Owing to the ferocity and brutality of the attacks upon Justinian, the authenticity of the Anecdota has been called in question, but the claims of Procopius to the authorship are now generally recognized.

Segment 4

In other words, the Anecdota reflected so badly on Justinian and Theodora that it was difficult to believe it could be true. It is not the intent of this book to serve as an indictment of these two souls - may they find peace and love wherever they are. The information about Justinian and Theodora and the demise of Origen is printed here as an aid to understanding that the fortunes of the Holy Scriptures and Christian doctrine in general have not always been in the hands of God's servants. The removal of the doctrine of reincarnation may not have been God's doing. God may have originated or inspired the scriptures that we have now accepted to be Christian but since then, they have, on occasion, been placed in the hands of those with little understanding. Because of this, we should abandon the expectation that these scriptures would arrive in the twenty-first century unscathed. The doctrine of reincarnation was banished because it gives power and authority to the people. Reincarnation contradicted the aspirations of a few bishops and deacons who felt they alone should dispense the truth to the multitudes. This authoritarian strangle-hold is strengthened by the doctrine of "one chance-one life" because a person who wrongly chose to think for themselves, dismissing the authority of the hierarchy, would not get another chance to put things aright if they guessed wrongly. The position of the hierarchy is that eternal damnation without parole would be the irrevocable fate of those who dared to question the hierarchy's authority.

Segment 5

Justinian and Theodora were said to be the first co-rulers of the empire. Some were of the opinion that Theodora possessed even greater political power than her husband Justinian. To theologically oppose her, meant death! As just one example: In the sixth century when Pope Sylverius had been removed from office by Theodora, the Emperor's wife who had previously been a prostitute and circus performer, and who disagreed with the pope on many theological positions -- one of which was the pre-existence of the soul -- Gibbon writes: At the emperor's command, the clergy of Rome proceeded to the choice of a new bishop; and after a solemn invocation of the Holy Ghost, elected the deacon Vigilius, who had purchased the papal throne by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold. The profit, and consequently the guilt, of this simony, was imputed to Belisarius, but the hero obeyed the orders of his wife; Antonina served the passions of the empress; and Theodora lavished her treasures, in the vain hope of obtaining a pontiff hostile or indifferent to the council of Chalcedon (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire).

Segment 6

What were the historical events surrounding the removal of the teachings of the pre-existence of the soul from doctrines of the church -- doctrines which remain with us today and foundational to the modern Christianity? Quoting Edward Gibbon: "But while Justinian strove to maintain the uniformity of faith and worship, his wife Theodora, whose vices were not incompatible with devotion, had listened to the Monophysite teachers; and the open or clandestine enemies of the church revived and multiplied at the smile of their gracious patroness. The capital, the palace, the nuptial bed, were torn by spiritual discord; yet so doubtful was the sincerity of the royal consorts, that their seeming disagreement was imputed by many to a secret and mischievous confederacy against the religion and happiness of their people. The famous dispute of the Three Chapters, which has filled more volumes than it deserves lines, is deeply marked with this subtile and disingenuous spirit. It was now three hundred years since the body of Origen had been eaten by the worms: his soul, of which he held the preexistence, was in the hands of its Creator; but his writings were eagerly perused by the monks of Palestine. In these writings, the piercing eye of Justinian descried more than ten metaphysical errors; and the primitive doctor was devoted by the clergy to the eternity of hell-fire, which he had presumed to deny. Under the cover of this precedent, a treacherous blow was aimed at the council of Chalcedon. The fathers had listened without impatience to the praise of Theodore of Mopsuestia; and their justice or indulgence had restored both Theodore of Cyrrhus, and Ibas of Edessa, to the communion of the church. But the characters of these Oriental bishops were tainted with the reproach of heresy If, they enjoyed the rewards of piety, they must have smiled at the idle fury of the theological insects who still crawled on the surface of the earth. The foremost of these insects, the emperor of the Romans, darted his sting, and distilled his venom, perhaps without discerning the true motives of Theodora and her ecclesiastical faction. The victims were no longer subject to his power, and the vehement style of his edicts could only proclaim their damnation, and invite the clergy of the East to join in a full chorus of curses and anathemas.

Segment 7

The East, with some hesitation, consented to the voice of her sovereign: the fifth general council, of three patriarchs and one hundred and sixty-five bishops, was held at Constantinople; and the authors, as well as the defenders, of the three chapters were separated from the communion of the saints, and solemnly delivered to the prince of darkness. But the Latin churches were more jealous of the honor of Leo and the synod of Chalcedon: and if they had fought as they usually did under the standard of Rome, they might have prevailed in the cause of reason and humanity. But their chief was a prisoner in the hands of the enemy; the throne of St. Peter, which had been disgraced by the simony, was betrayed by the cowardice of Vigilius, who yielded, after a long and inconsistent struggle, to the despotism of Justinian "

Segment 8

The Theology Of Roman Emperors: While Christians today to their own spiritual demise readily accept the theological and doctrinal decrees of the early Roman Church without question, this was not the case when these political edicts were imposed upon the believers at the time.

In the case of the condemnation of Origen and the belief expressed by the early Church Fathers that the soul existed prior to our entrance into this life, all who supported the belief in the pre-existence of the soul were officially anathematized by the emperor. Because the far-reaching impact of this (secular/political) condemnation of the man who has been called the greatest of all the Christian theologians in the history of the church is basically unknown to the believer today -- and few church authorities even want to discuss its implications on modern-day Christian dogma and doctrine -- a great obstacle has been placed in the path of the believer that severely inhibits their ability to comprehend the full essence of the Gospel teachings in their present-day lives. In fact, until this obstacle is removed, the believers of the common faith will never be able to perceive the Mysteries of God that they earnestly pray to be revealed to them.

The question is profound: Is man a new creation at conception? Or is he an image of his pre-existent soul that is projected into this realm in order to continue his journey on the road to spiritual perfection? What we fail to recognize today is the fact that these two fundamental beliefs about the nature of the soul act as the very source that require us to embrace a whole host of other downstream beliefs pertaining to every faucet of life. The differences are so profound, that if we cling to the wrong core belief, every other belief that we hold will remain incomplete!

Segment 9

In our analysis as Christians in search of the truth, we must pose the question: Who understood the essence of the Gospel message -- i.e., Justinian and Theodora; or Origen and the Messianic followers of Jesus? What the modern Christian fails to comprehend is that this foundational perception of the true nature of man is so crucial to a proper understanding of the Bible, that it can be said today that it is impossible to get a proper sense of the Gospel message until the error of Justinian is reversed. Further, all the doctrinal conflicts that divide the Christian Church today into an uncountable number of sects and opposing opinions, is the direct result of the believers acceptance of the Justinian/Theodora vision of man, Jesus, and Creation. The problem is that we can never truly come to Christ, and we can never perceive the Mysteries of God, so long as we anchor ourselves to this world by our allegiance to the political decrees of Justinian and the doctrines of men.

In the recognition that the modern church no longer understands the teaching that the soul pre-exists the body because of the direct intervention of a Roman Emperor into church affairs, we must ask the question: Does this revelation mean that the religious authorities of our day will contemplate what we now know about Christian origins -- recognize this truth, and re-evaluate modern Christian doctrine so as to make it compatible with the thinking and mindset of the people who Jesus personally taught the Mysteries of God? In view of the fact that the Dead Sea Scrolls were placed in the hands of the church over fifty years ago, and these sacred writings convey the same exact message that has been portrayed here, the answer is that nothing can change the thinking of the majority of the clergy of the church today -- that is, until the people themselves begin to demand the truth.

Segment 10

In the same way that when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, the people were forced to walk through the wilderness until all of the adults died because they were unable to change from their old manner of worldly thinking -- and it was this worldly manner of thinking that inhibited them from entering into the promised land -- it is likewise easy to predict that in our present-day understanding of the Word, the majority of our modern religious leaders will reject the idea that the soul pre-existed the body. But when it is realized that our whole perception and understanding of life has been reared and molded on the idea that life begins at either conception or birth -- not only religiously, but from a non-religious philosophical perspective also -- it is not difficult to conclude that we would be unable to initially embrace an idea that would radically revise every concept and doctrine that we presently hold to be true.

Segment 11

Fundamentalist Christians today are in great opposition to Darwinism and the teaching of evolution in our public schools. From a biblical perspective we must ask: Why has the Hand of God permitted this philosophical opinion to undermine the teachings of the scriptures? Fundamentally, because Christians cling to very similar beliefs and doctrines that were championed by Justinian and Theodora -- beliefs which continue to mold our thinking to this very day. While many modern Christians vehemently oppose the Theory of Evolution, what they fail to realize is that Darwinism is an outgrowth of the Justinian anti-pre-existence doctrine.

What Darwin and the Evolutionists have done, is attempt to explain the gaping holes in the carnal reasoning and understanding of man's limited logic -- holes that would not exist in the Christian world today, except for man's ignorance of himself and his Divine Nature. The problem is that Darwin merely composed the thinking of Pagan Rome into a formal theory -- which meant that the foundation of these gaping holes were in fact truly conceived right in the bedrock of the Roman Church. Darwinism is in fact a natural outgrowth and extension of the doctrinal course that had been previously set by the Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora. Once this is truly comprehended, we are then able to see that the gaping holes that Fundamentalists oppose today, actually originated in the religious doctrines of the church -- doctrines that are used in an attempt to explain away sacred truths that we are unable to even contemplate because we begin our understanding of life and God on the wrong premise.

Fundamentally, the decree of the Emperor Justinian which outlawed the belief in the pre-existence of the soul, was literally forced upon the Christian religion in the sixth century. What this means is that our modern-day religious beliefs and doctrines, are in fact secularly based. Quoting the Britannica: Under Justinian all essential features were already formed: Imperial power extended equally over state and Church Since the emperor ruled the Church there was no longer any independence for the bishops, least of all for the patriarch in Constantinople; they were in every respect subordinate to the emperor .

Segment 12

In the year 553 Justinian convened the 5 th Ecumenical Council where, quoting the Catholic Encyclopedia, the council opened on 5 May, 553, in spite of the protestations of Pope Vigilius, who though at Constantinople, refused to attend it before the opening of the council, which had been delayed by the resistance of the pope, the bishops already assembled at Constantinople had to consider, by order of the emperor, a form of Origenism that had practically nothing in common with Origen . Quoting the Britannica: After the council, Justinian banished the pope to Egypt, and afterwards to an island, until he accepted the Council, which he ultimately did. Thus, the condemnation of the Church Father Origen, as well as the removal of the teaching of the pre-existence of the soul, was literally forced upon the Christian Church by the hostile abduction of the pope by the Emperor Justinian.

From a theological perspective, this control of Christian doctrine by the Roman Government has all but slammed the door to higher understanding within the body of the church -- and the detrimental effect continues to plague Christians even in our present day. As we read the Bible, we no longer have it within our ability to understand the biblical doctrine of predestination -- the reason for life itself -- how we can truly be the Children and Offspring of God -- and what is our eventual Destiny. Like Darwin, we relate everything to the physical body, rather than to the Spirit.

In being severed from the knowledge of our soul's beginning, and having no clear perception of our eventual destiny, neither are we able to contemplate the means by which we can be raised up to the stature of a true disciple of Jesus -- whom the Apostle states is a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life (1 Tim 1:16 NKJ). With respect to the Apostles words, we must ask what is a pattern is? It is not something that we philosophically believe in -- but rather, a pattern is something that we mold our lives after. Because the decrees of the Emperors of Rome remain foundational to our thinking today, the problem is seen in the fact that because we fail to comprehend the true Divine Nature of our very own soul, it is impossible for us to grasp the far reaching spiritual implications of what Jesus taught to his faithful disciples -- which disciples did indeed hold totally opposite and conflicting views on many important points of the Word than we do today.

Segment 13

In the manner of life itself, it is not that we are wrong in what we see in the scriptures with respect to interpreting the word from an historical perspective -- but in our vision of what we see, the limitation of our carnal mindset is prevalent -- which mindset is the very essence of thinking that has given birth to Darwinism and the doctrine of evolution. The whole concept of parallel realms -- spiritual realms -- of which this realm in which we presently dwell is a pattern of its spiritual opposite -- simply does not exist in the thinking of Darwin.

The Apostle Paul states that the things of the spirit are foolishness to the carnal mind of man, as seen in the words: But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ). This inability to perceive the higher realities of the spirit is not only an obstacle to the non-believer, but also the believers. Without realizing it, both the church, as well as the Darwinist theories of life that a great number of Christians oppose, all possess the same congenital flaw -- i.e., they see man as a three-dimensional being who does not possess a pre-existent soul. The problem is that in our modern-day vision of life, both the church and Darwin sees man as nothing more than what is observed with the physical senses. Thus, Darwin's perception of creation is merely a secularized version of the doctrine of the church which was orchestrated under the rule of the Emperor Justinian -- whereby the physical is the source of all life and existence -- which is totally opposite to the truth.

That Theodora -- a Monophysite -- opposed the teachings of the church with respect to the pre-existence of the soul, was merely because once we recognize the truth to this higher reality, all of life begins to be painted with an entirely different picture. Once it is realized that our soul pre-existed our birth in this life, all the great many questions that have plagued the church immediately begins to fade away into oblivion. Suddenly, we begin to comprehend the parable of the prodigal son as it was taught by Jesus -- the enigma of the biblical doctrine of predestination fades away -- we suddenly understand how Jesus became the pattern for all of mankind to emulate -- how Jesus can be called our elder brother -- why God permits evil -- we begin to understand the purpose, reason and destiny of life itself from a totally new perspective that is alien to us today.

Segment 14

The natural environment for the Revelation of the Christ, is that of a spiritual mindset which, for the lack of any other word, we call mysticism. Like the Bible itself, the root concept of mysticism embraces the idea that man has a nature that is not of this physical realm -- and he has within himself a source of knowledge that exceeds anything manifest in the outside world. In fact, the whole concept of first century New Covenant teachings is an acclamation that man possesses an intimate and direct connection with God, and he is not dependent upon a priest, church or religious organization for his salvation. The very idea that a force from God -- the Holy Spirit and Anointing of the Light -- can come upon a man, and open his mind to perceive and understand great truths that are not apparent to the normal person, is the very essence of Jesus' teachings -- which teachings are synonymous with mysticism and gnosticism.

When the Roman Government removed the sacred truths revealed by Jesus from their natural mystical/spiritual environment, the result was that Christianity was severed from the very source of truth and reality that Jesus revealed. To replace the essence of what was lost, artificial doctrines of belief were created which were then used to explain away spiritual concepts that the carnal mind of man does not possess the ability to understand. The idea that if we change (open and unloose) the mind, we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven, was altered to embrace a totally redemptive perception of the Bible where one had to repent so they would go to heaven when they physically died. Thus, we must recognize that Darwinism is nothing more than an attempt to explain Creation within the mindset of the Emperor Justinian's doctrine that was imposed upon the church -- a mindset that must be rejected today, if the church is to be born again into the vital spiritual force that it has the potential to be.

Once these facts of history are acknowledged as valid, then all sincere Christians must question whether this fault that was imposed upon Christian thinking by the Roman Emperors of the past can be corrected today? This is a difficult question because of the obstacle seen in man's natural affinity to oppose change. Thus, the words of Jesus: And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, The old is better (Luke 5:39 NIV). The new wine is the timeless revelations received from spiritual realms; the old is the ideas of man that has been established by the philosophers and rulers of this world -- ideas which are based upon a very carnal perception of Creation.

Segment 15

What Jesus' words ultimately proclaim is the great truth that, in the same exact manner as the carnal Jews, a large number of modern Christians would immediately condemn the idea that the soul pre-existed the body. Why could such a prediction be made? Fundamentally, because everything that is preached today is based upon a quasi-Darwinist theology that the soul and spirit of man comes into existence at birth. From a doctrinal standpoint, change is near impossible because they would literally have to re-evaluate every element and concept of their thinking -- as well as its far-reaching implications -- on what they have come to believe since the time of their birth right up until the present. The concepts of Darwinism -- i.e., that we are the body, and we are nothing more than what we see -- has been culturally ingrained in the people's thinking from the time they spoke their first words. Their mental conditioning and cultural speculation has been so completely programmed into a Darwinist model of Creation, that without a superhuman effort, they simply could not delve that deeply into the essence of their present-day reasoning and vision of life with which they have been imbued with. Human nature, then, would not permit them to even entertain a true spiritual mindset -- a mindset that would require them to re-evaluate everything they ever believed to be the truth.

What should truly frighten modern believers, though, is the indisputable fact that the disciples and first followers of Jesus not only wholeheartedly embraced a very mystical mindset where they openly espoused the doctrine that the soul pre-existed the body, but it was their claim that their vision and understanding of the Word was taught to them directly by Jesus. Thus, the disciples and followers of Christ claimed that it was Jesus himself who revealed to them the truth that their soul existed prior to their being born into their life in this realm.

Segment 16

Regardless of the fact that the Bible is totally silent with respect to when the soul was created, the problem is that once we accept the idea of the pre-existence of the soul -- and that the soul existed prior to our birth into this life -- we are immediately confronted with the reality that our soul could have lived previous lives prior to our birth into this present life. This of course embraces the teaching of the transmigration of the soul -- which is more popularly called today the doctrine of reincarnation. Thus, the problem is seen in the fact that Christians have been traditionally taught that reincarnation is a New Age belief that is founded in Hinduism, and is thus in error. It, of course, never dawns on the Christian whose mind has been programmed since birth of the fallacy of this belief, that many of the ideas promoted by the New Age community as well as the Hindu's are in error, and that neither group comprehends this reality from the perspective to the teachings of Jesus and the New Covenant. What this means is that because of the paradoxical nature of man's higher reality, the concept of reincarnation which is espoused by the New Age community is not exactly true, and the Christian idea that we only live one life would be more appropriate in the life of the majority of people alive in our present time. That these spiritual truths are confusing to the carnal mindset, has been well established in the Epistles of Paul who openly warned us of this fact.

Segment 17

In one of the few remaining instances that the teaching of the pre-existence of the soul was not removed from the Bible, we can observe where the disciples asked Jesus whether the man himself had sinned prior to being born into this life (John 9:2), we must understand that this question was asked in clarification of Jesus' own teachings. Our modern religious authorities do not see this very clearly because their perception is fragmentary, and they are unable to connect the dots that would reveal the larger picture that Jesus painted to those who possessed the eyes to see the Mysteries of God. Admittedly, when the scriptures were in their original form prior to being re-written by the Church of Rome, there existed a whole host of other readings that supported the teaching of the pre-existence of the soul.

The disciples of Jesus asked this question, because they understood that their soul is the mind that pre-existed, transcended, and survives the body. In fact, Prof. John Allegro made direct reference to this mystical/gnostic nature of the Gospel of John when he wrote: It is a fact that the Qumran Library has profoundly affected the study of the Johannine writings and many longheld conceptions have had to be radically revised. No longer can John be regarded as the most Hellenistic of the Evangelists; his gnosticism, and the whole framework of his thought is seen now to spring directly from a Jewish sectarianism rooted in palestinian soil, and his material recognized as founded in the earliest layers of Gospel traditions ( The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Origins of Christianity) .

What this means is that if we are to even begin to perceive the depth of the Gospel of John which is so important to the theology of the modern Church, is is essential for us to be of a likeminded perception of life. Unfortunately, our present-day anti-gnostic ideas of both life and the gospel, simply do not support a proper understanding of the depth that John conveys to the reader. We are therefore forced to fabricate numerous doctrines of belief in order to support our alien perception that does not support a more pure spiritual mindset and manner of thinking.

Segment 18

Essential to a correct and more enlightened comprehension of John, is to possess the same framework of thought as was seen in the perception of the Essenes with respect to the pre-existent nature of the soul:

The disciples of Jesus perceived that their station in life -- i.e., the person they were -- was not an accident of nature as we believe today -- but rather, the result of what their own soul had achieved in their more distant past prior to being born into that life. While this may sound alien to the modern-day believer, once we begin to comprehend the connection between the pre-existence of the soul and the biblical doctrine of predestination and preordination, almost every verse in the Bible begins to take on a previously cloaked spiritual perspective that is intimately intertwined with every aspect of our present-day lives.

In their realization by the disciples of Jesus that they were not the physical body/vessel, their vision of the Gospel was entirely different than modern Christians today. Because they viewed Creation from an opposite perspective than what has today come to be associated with a Christian quasi-Darwinist vision of life, they were able to comprehend the great reality that we cannot -- i.e., paramount among these was the answer to how the Apostle Paul could so openly teach that mankind was truly the children and offspring of God. This knowledge that is alien to us today, was in fact taught to them by Jesus himself, and represents one of the core reasons they were condemned by the later Gentile church which was anti-gnostic and anti-spiritual, and for political reasons attempted to suppress any direct contact with the spiritual nature of man.

Segment 19

In their far-reaching vision of reality that is beyond our comprehension today, they understood that within their own mind and being they retained an intimate and direct connection with God -- the Source of all Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding. Religion, then, was not belief in a man, or a god -- but rather, true religion was the imitation of the Divine Pattern of the Son of God, and the immersion of their consciousness in the Anointing of the Light. Because Jesus enlightened their understanding, and had opened the door to their own indwelling soul and spiritual natures, they were not burdened by quasi-Darwinist ideas of Creation, and their whole perception of the Word was entirely different than the doctrines which modern Christians embrace today -- doctrines that we now call Christian, that were founded upon the decrees of a series of Roman Emperors in an attempt to explain sacred truths from a carnal perspective in support of an institutionalized church -- a church that these Pagan politicians used to rule the empire.

In the Adam Clarke's Biblical Commentary for Second Chronicles, chapter thirty two, verse thirty one, it is written: To know ourselves... is of the utmost importance to our religious growth and perfection... He who does not know ...becomes an easy prey to their enemies. Know thyself is a lesson which no man can learn but from the Spirit of God . This is perhaps one of the most profound and important biblical concepts for the modern Christian to embrace -- i.e., one of the primary teachings of Jesus was to teach man about himself, and reveal to man his true relationship to God his Father. The problem is that we no longer understand the very essence of New Covenant thought today, because we view ourselves in accordance with the ideas of Darwin. Again, we fail to perceive the reality of the words of Jesus when he commanded: And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven (Matt 23:9 NIV).

When we ask why? It is because we must perceive the reality that our essence of mind is an embryonic image of our pre-existent soul that has its origin in the Kingdom with our Heavenly Father and Source of Being. From this perspective, we were a gift that was given to our parents who provided the vessel that is our physical body -- and we were placed in their care both for our own growth and development, as well as the growth and development of our parents. In fact, taking this gift from God that is given in the form of an infant, and rearing this child in The Way of the Light, is a far greater expression of the practice of religion, and can do more for the advancement of the soul in its journey toward the Kingdom, than all the prayer, and all the singing of songs in all the churches the world over.