{"id":862,"date":"2012-08-05T11:00:07","date_gmt":"2012-08-05T15:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/?p=862"},"modified":"2019-01-30T06:55:11","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T11:55:11","slug":"the-messiah-who-misbehaved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/?p=862","title":{"rendered":"RS20: The Messiah Who Misbehaved"},"content":{"rendered":"

A:\u00a0 Last time, you came out with a doozy.\u00a0 You said — and I quote — “[Paul] would have thought of it as ‘reintegrating’ broken pieces of divine truth that had fallen out of their proper places.\u00a0 Pieces such as the Logos<\/em> [Jesus].\u00a0 And Charis<\/em> (grace), who was Paul’s God.”<\/p>\n

\"Bleeding<\/a>

“They said to him: ‘Tell us who you are so that we can believe in you. He replied: You analyze the appearance of the sky and the earth, but you don’t recognize what is right in front of you, and you don’t know the nature of the present time” (Gospel of Thomas 91). Photo credit JAT 2013.<\/p><\/div>\n

That’s quite a statement.\u00a0 You’re saying, in effect, that Paul believed you actually were<\/em> some some sort of divine figure who was sent to Earth, but that you were somehow “defective” or “broken,” and because of your “brokenness” Paul hated and feared you and tried to “fix” your teachings.\u00a0 Have I got that right?<\/p>\n

J (nodding):\u00a0 Exactly.\u00a0 It’s not difficult to see the differences in theology between Paul and myself, and it’s not difficult to see that Paul was trying to found a brand new religious movement, with himself as leader and prophet.\u00a0 But at the end of the day, you still have to ask yourself why he would bother including me at all.\u00a0 You have to ask yourself why he would found a new religious movement, and then stick a real person — a person whose family and friends had survived him and could still tell the truth — right in the middle of it.\u00a0 It was a risky thing to do.\u00a0 A stupid thing to do from the viewpoint of common sense and practicality.\u00a0 It would have been much simpler and more logical for him to invent a Saviour from whole cloth, as so many other religious movements had done before him.\u00a0 He could have invented a new god, and nobody around him would have blinked.\u00a0 The world of 1st century CE religion was full of invented gods.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 So why did he do it?\u00a0 Why did he take the risk of putting a real person at the centre of his new religious movement?<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 We’ve talked about some of Paul’s motives in the past.\u00a0 He was a man who was deeply driven, deeply ambitious.\u00a0 He was, like so many ambitious men before and after him, a man who was blind to his own issues, blind to his own extreme narcissism.\u00a0 The world was a confusing and endlessly frustrating place, from his point of view.\u00a0 So, like so many other narcissists, he turned to ideology to help him cope.\u00a0 He turned, in this case, to the ideology of religion.\u00a0 Not faith, as I’d like to emphasize, but religion.\u00a0 Religion as a cultural institution with clear rules and expectations — rules that bring order and harmony into a world of pure chaos.\u00a0 Rules that make sense to the head if not to the heart.\u00a0 Rules that tell people their place in life.\u00a0 Rules that tell people how to behave toward their neighbours and how to behave toward their “betters.”\u00a0 Rules that teach people how to obey.\u00a0 This sense of structure and obedience was greatly appealing to Paul.\u00a0 It helped him cope with his own feelings of confusion and anger.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 So he just went out and started a new religion?<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Paul’s mindset — his internal belief system — was the start of his journey, but not the end of it.\u00a0 In early adulthood, Paul turned to the Jewish tradition he’d been raised in, and at first this satisfied him.\u00a0 But soon his narcissism, his need for special attention and special outcomes for himself, led him further and further away from questions about compassion and healing and forgiveness.\u00a0 His clever mind and his skill with rhetoric brought him to the attention of a powerful group of military and political thinkers based in Alexandria, Egypt.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 We’ve talked about this before.\u00a0 You called this group “Seekers of the Rock.”\u00a0 You said they had a plan to seize power from the emperors of the Julian dynasty in Rome.<\/p>\n

J (nodding):\u00a0 People today often scoff at the idea that such powerful groups exist.\u00a0 But they do.\u00a0 They’ve been a fixture of all technologically advanced civilizations on Planet Earth.\u00a0\u00a0 The people who found and maintain these groups always ascribe great mystical significance and merit to their work, but, in fact, they’re really just a bunch of severe narcissists who’ve got together to form a “mutual admiration society.”<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 Misery loves company.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Narcissists feel miserable on the inside.\u00a0 But they feel better if they can keep themselves busy by throwing themselves into “a worthy cause.”\u00a0 And what more worthy cause could there be than joining the Sons of Light to save the universe from the dire perils of Sin and Death and Corrupt Law and their evil leader Beliar?<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 Paul mentions Beliar in Second Corinthians (2 Cor 6:15).<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 And the Essenes before him.\u00a0 Essene beliefs about Good Versus Evil greatly influenced Paul.\u00a0 But in the end, even the secret mystical teachings of the Essenes weren’t enough for him, and he embraced the offer made to him by the Seekers of the Rock.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 They made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 One of their seers told Paul he’d been chosen before birth to carry out a great mission that could help save the world and restore order to the entire universe.\u00a0 There is no more tempting bait for a pure narcissist.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 Paul begins his letter to the Galatians by saying God had set him apart before he was born to receive divine revelation (Gal 1:11-17).<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Once a narcissist is convinced of such a claim, he or she becomes unstoppable in religious fervour.\u00a0 He puts on a cloak of religious fervour that is understood by others as charisma<\/em> — a gift of special grace from God. \u00a0 He wears it 24\/7 and goes without food or sleep if he’s caught up in the self-generated ecstasy of being the No. 1 Prophet and Mouthpiece of Revelation.\u00a0 But, again, there’s nothing mystical or divine about it.\u00a0 It’s the self-generated high — the orgasmic high — that narcissists feel when other people tell them how “special” and “chosen” they (the prophets) are.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 So Paul believed his own propaganda.\u00a0 He believed he was a divinely chosen messenger.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 He couldn’t have found the strength to keep going for so long if he hadn’t believed in his own message.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 The source of that strength was the “high” he got from being treated by others as special and chosen.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 It’s an addictive high.\u00a0 Eventually it damages both body and brain and leads to other forms of addiction, such as addiction to sex or drugs, but in the short term it gives a lot of energy, a lot of stamina for big performances, big bursts of charisma.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 Like some pop stars today.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 A lot like that, yes.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 So how does any of this relate to you?\u00a0 Why did he decide to put you in the middle of the new religion he was commissioned to create?<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Several reasons.\u00a0 One, he needed a “face” for his new Christ Movement, a movement that was being founded to compete with the Emperor Cult in Rome.\u00a0 The Emperor Cult had “refreshed” ideas about the living god, the god incarnated in human form, the man who is really the son of God, deity in human flesh, god-and-emperor-as-One, that kind of thing.\u00a0 These weren’t new religious ideas at the time.\u00a0 Far from it.\u00a0 But the influence of the Emperor Cult — which was nothing more than a calculated political ploy designed to build acceptance for Rome’s rule — had a surprising and unintended effect on people.\u00a0 People began to think more — and yearn more — for an actual living god who could help them in their suffering.\u00a0 Many people were open to the idea a living god, a Saviour who would come to Earth during a time of great need and save the oppressed.\u00a0 It’s an idea that still hasn’t gone away.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 The Romans were nothing if not oppressive.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Other religious movements of the time — and there were many — focussed on ancient gods and ancient prophecies.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the Emperor Cult had a “new” god, a god of living flesh.\u00a0 Paul saw the effect this had on people, and decided to offer them an alternative.\u00a0 It was quite brilliant, actually.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 But why you?\u00a0 Why not a prince or a member of the Alexandrian elite?\u00a0 Why not a heroic general?\u00a0 Why not a famous oracle?<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Paul chose me because he was afraid I was actually “the real deal.”\u00a0 He didn’t arrive in Galilee in time to meet me in person, but he spoke to people who had worked with me, and he read the writings Lazarus and I had left behind.\u00a0 He came to two unshakeable conclusions: (1) I had been the prophesied Messiah, as shown by the miracles of my ministry, and (2) I had seriously fucked things up.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 You always have such a way with words.<\/p>\n

J (laughing):\u00a0 Hey, it’s the truth.\u00a0 It’s what Paul thought about me.\u00a0 He could see from his own investigations that I knew something new and important about God, something he didn’t.\u00a0 He could see I’d been using strange, new techniques to heal people.\u00a0 He could see that something damned weird had happened around the time of my crucifixion and reappearance from the tomb.\u00a0 He didn’t argue with the events, with the historicity of miraculous events during my ministry.\u00a0 What he objected to was how I had used<\/em> this secret knowledge.\u00a0 In his opinion, I hadn’t behaved at all the way a proper Messiah should have behaved.\u00a0 I hadn’t seized the power and the glory. So he concluded I’d got broken somehow, that I’d got broken and needed to be fixed.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 Which he had the skill to do, of course.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 A narcissist doesn’t believe he has limits.\u00a0 I was so broken he sometimes referred to me as the “thorn in his flesh.”\u00a0 Other times he referred to me as “the useful one,” the slave Onesimus, as in Paul’s letter to Philemon.\u00a0 He felt I’d fallen so low during my time as a man that I’d become no better than a slave.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 So what was this secret knowledge you had?\u00a0 What were these strange, new healing techniques you used?<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Ah.\u00a0 That would be science.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 You want to explain that?<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 It’s the simplest thing in the world to put science and faith together when you trust in God’s goodness with all your heart, all your strength, all your mind, and all your soul.\u00a0 When you believe in God — in God as God actually is — there’s no need to fight the science.\u00a0 There’s no need to fight the objective realities of science.\u00a0 There’s no need to hide behind religious laws and religious rituals.\u00a0 You just go out there and do your thing — whatever your “thing” happens to be.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 Which in your case was being a physician.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 I was a physician, then and now.\u00a0 It’s who I am as a soul.\u00a0 It’s my calling, you could say.\u00a0 It’s my strength.\u00a0 Because it’s my strength, I hear God’s voice particularly well in this area.\u00a0 My instincts, my gut, my heart, my intuition hear messages from God very clearly in the area of medical science.\u00a0 I can’t hear God’s voice clearly in all areas, but when it comes to questions about medical science, I can hear clear as a bell.\u00a0 I combined my skill as a natural physician with my faith in God and my faith in the goodness of all souls.\u00a0 God’s healing angels did the rest.\u00a0 I didn’t perform the miracles myself.\u00a0 But I helped create a fruitful garden of the heart where oppressed individuals could believe in their own worthiness, in their own worthiness to be loved and healed by God.\u00a0 My job was to persuade my friends they could find healing by working with<\/em> God instead of against<\/em> God.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 This doesn’t sound very broken to me.\u00a0 It sounds pretty healthy and normal.<\/p>\n

J:\u00a0 Apparently Messiahs who are worth their salt are expected to show a lot more razzle dazzle.\u00a0 More shields, more swords, more footstools, more thrones, more trumpets.<\/p>\n

A:\u00a0 Sounds a lot to me like an American reality TV show.\u00a0 “So You Think You Can Prophesy”\u00a0 . . .\u00a0 “American Messiah” . . . “Dancing With the Gods” . . . Hey, you know, maybe we’re already there\u00a0 . . .<\/p>\n

-2<\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div>
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A:\u00a0 Last time, you came out with a doozy.\u00a0 You said — and I quote — “[Paul] would have thought of it as ‘reintegrating’ broken pieces of divine truth that had fallen out of their proper places.\u00a0 Pieces such as the Logos [Jesus].\u00a0 And Charis (grace), who was Paul’s God.” That’s quite a statement.\u00a0 You’re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,64,247,65,97,130,59,301],"tags":[296,246],"class_list":["post-862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healing-miracles","category-messiah","category-miracles","category-narcissism","category-paul-versus-jesus","category-pauls-teachings","category-realspiritik","category-resurrection","tag-ethical-mysticism","tag-jesus-versus-paul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=862"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2654,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions\/2654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jenniferthomas.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}