Humanity Is On Trial: Reclaiming Faith In the Historical Yeshua Also Called Jesus

 

Humanity Is On Trial

 

Reclaiming Faith In the Historical Yeshua Also Called Jesus

 

By Alberta L. Parish

 

 

  

Copyright © 2021 Alberta L. Parish

All Rights Reserved.

 

 

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the Author and Publisher.

 

 

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my ancestor and late mother, Celestene Lawrence, who is with me in spirit.

 

 

Contents

 

Chapter One    Reclaiming Faith In A Fallen World

Chapter Two   Losing One's Faith Does Not Happen Overnight

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter One

Reclaiming Faith In A Fallen World

In June 2021, I watched a lecture on YouTube entitled The Mighty Hebrew speaks on Yeshua with Zion Lexx. In this lecture, The Mighty Hebrew spoke on an historical Yeshua also called Jesus whom Buddhist scholars wrote about as having traveled to India when he was 13 years old and studied with the Brahmans. The Mighty Hebrew also said that Yeshua is powerful enough for us to remember him as a revolutionary and a freedom fighter in line with those that came before us. He also stated that there is so much evidence of Far East evidence of Yeshua’s existence, and there are primaries of the evidence where you can go and look at these manuscripts, and clearly look at the Buddhist teachings, and look at Yeshua, and you could tell that he had Far Eastern influences.

The Mighty Hebrew talked about the book entitled The Lost Years of Jesus written by Elizabeth Clare Prophet. He explained that the missing years of Jesus between the age of 13 and 29 was spent in India where he studied with the Brahman priests. He stated that there are actual records in Tibet also amongst the lamas. He added that you see 17 missing years of Yeshua in which he just disappears from the New Testament, from he believes the age of 12 years old or a little after 12 and then he comes back around 30, all those missing years are gone. But those so-called missing years, he lived in India. The Mighty Hebrew added, “Ancient text is revealed that Yeshua spent 17 years in the Orient. They say that from ages 13 years to 29, he was both a student and teacher. And they actually have scrolls amongst these Buddhists. They call him in their history Saint Issa.”

The Mighty Hebrew further explained that Saint Issa was part of a group called the Sudras (also Sudhra). He added that Yeshua was sent by the Essene scholarship body in Israel, northeastern Africa to study under the Noble Brahmans of the Indian subcontinent. But he was one who was a part of a group known as the Sudras, those of the lower caste who was preaching against the Brahmans. He added that ancient sources show that Yeshua spent 17 years in the East and the Indus valley. He continued saying that Buddhist historians also recorded Yeshua’s pilgrimage from Jerusalem to India.

In the book, The Lost Years of Jesus, Elizabeth Clare Prophet wrote that Issa “was joyously received by the Brahman priests who taught him to read and understand the Vedas and to teach, heal, and perform exorcisms.” The Vedas are religious texts originating in ancient India.

In 1887, according to Elizabeth Clare Prophet, a Russian journalist named Nicolas Notovitch discovered the ancient scrolls documenting the life of Saint Issa at the Himis monastery in Ladakh. According to Prophet, Nicolas Notovitch published his translation of the Buddhist legend in 1894 in his book, The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ. Prophet wrote that Buddhist scholars documented the life of Saint Issa two thousand years ago.

In The Mighty Hebrew’s lecture, he read a passage from a book written by William Bramley entitled The Gods of Eden stating, “[s]everal years ago, I happened to see an intriguing film documentary by Richard Bock called The Lost Years. This film regularly shows up on local American television stations from around Christmas and Easter. It is well worth watching. The film suggests that Yeshua would journey to Asia where he spent his teens and early adulthood studying the religious practices there. One source from which the filmmaker drew this remarkable conclusion was the Legend of Issa, a very old Buddhist document purportedly discovered in the Hindu monastery of India by Russian traveler, Nicolas Notovitch, in 1887. Notovitch published his translation of the Buddhist legend in 1890 in his book, The Unknown Life of Jesus.” The Mighty Hebrew further read, “According to the Buddhist legend, uncovered by Notovitch, a remarkable young man named Yeshua or Issa had departed for Asia at the age of 13. Yeshua studied under several religious masters of the East, did some preaching on his own, and returned to Palestine sixteen and a half years later at the age of 29. The significant parallels between the lives of Issa and Yeshua have led to the conclusion that Issa was in fact Yeshua. If true, such a journey would certainly be omitted from the bible because it contradicts the idea that Yeshua had achieved spiritual enlightenment solely by divine inspiration. If Yeshua was an Essene, and he traveled to Asia under Essene scholarship, and if the Essenes indeed followed an Aryan/noble tradition, we would expect Jesus or Yeshua to be sent to study under the Noble Brahmans of the Indian subcontinent. According to the legend of Yeshua, that is precisely what happened. In his fourteenth year…now this is in the scroll that they found; it says in his fourteenth year, young Yeshua, the blessed one, came this side of the side of Providence, west of Pakistan, and settled amongst the noble ones. Upon Yeshua’s arrival, the enlightened priests of Brahma welcomed him joyfully and taught him among other things to really understand the Vedas, and to teach and expound secret Hindu scriptures. This joyful reception quickly turned sour, however, because Yeshua insisted upon associating with the lower castes that led to friction between the young headstrong Yeshua and his Brahman hosts.”

I can certainly understand why the 17 missing years of Yeshua was omitted from the English Bible, the Four Gospels, and by proxy the New Testament due to its connotations of a revolutionary and freedom fighter who studied in India for 17 years, and was a teacher who taught the people the laws, statutes, and commandments, and also taught and expounded upon secret Hindu scriptures, associated himself with the lower caste, healed the sick, cast out demons, returned to Israel at age 29, and was later crucified by the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate, as a seditionist and enemy of Rome.

By my research which is documented in my book entitled God Is On Trial, ancient Palestine, at the time that Yeshua/Jesus was said to have walked the earth, was rife with civil unrest and bloodshed because of Rome’s occupational army stationed in the country, Roman soldiers’ brutality against the people, heavy taxation from Caesar, the desecration of Israel and of Herod’s Temple, and also Rome’s insistence that the people in Palestine worship Caesar as god. As a result, many Judeans like Yeshua who opposed the Roman government were put to death and killed by the Romans for so-called sedition acts against Rome’s government and Caesar. In fact, in my book, I wrote “[a]t a time when Jesus allegedly walked the earth, nationalistic Jews like the Zealots and Sacarii waged revolts against Roman rulers. First Century Jews anticipated the coming of their Messiah who would be a king and there were several major messiah-like figures during this same time period.”

In my book, I also wrote that the Jesus of the Four Gospels is a non-historical figure, but could I have been mistaken and incorrect this entire time along with so many other people? Unlike some people, I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong. I am not afraid to retract any prior statements I’ve made. I will admit that I was influenced by historians and scholars claiming that the Jesus of faith (of scripture) is a non-historical figure, a successor to many sun gods in the ancient mystery religious system, and a conglomerate from various characters or messiah-like figures that existed in First Century Judea. One such messiah-like figure was known as Judas of Galilee who was the founder and leader of the Zealots that led a tax revolt against Rome when Quirinius was governor of Syria and, as a result, was crucified in 6 CE. Years later, two of Judas’ sons who were leaders of the Zealots were crucified by a Roman procurator named Tiberius Alexander, and a third son was stoned to death, according to the writings of Josephus Flavius.

I also admit that I was influenced by other points of views concerning the Christ of the Four Gospels, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. But the ultimate decision to walk away from the faith was mine even in the midst of other influences and voices that opposed religious teachings, or Christianity, or more specifically, teachings from the bible.

Being easily manipulated and impressionable seems to be traits of mine that I could never shake no matter how many times I’ve prided myself on not allowing others to manipulate me.

Sometimes, when people cannot accept you for who you are, they seek to try and change and mold you into what they want you to be. And it is never a good idea to try and change anyone, especially when trying to get them away from a certain ideology or belief system that they’ve grown up in their entire lives, and your only purpose for doing this is for selfish reasons.

For any sort of selfish gain, ulterior motive or underlying factor, people will try and change or make and mold others into what they want them to be. In fact, most people are incapable of accepting people exactly as they are. Most people are not only intolerant of other people’s points of views, or opinions, but they’re intolerant of other people’s religious views or practices. When you find yourself always having to change another person just so you can tolerate that individual, then perhaps, that is the epitome of selfishness. Perhaps, you might need to reexamine your relationship with the person you always feel the need to make and mold, or change, or try and change to fit your ideal of a perfect person that you can tolerate. And why do you feel the need to always change another person? Why can’t you just accept a person for who he or she is? Why do you feel the need to always control others? There are no perfect individuals. If you’re looking for a perfect man or woman that you can tolerate and/or control, then you probably shouldn’t be human. You probably should not exist as a human being. Anyone who seeks to always control another person or groups of people is probably a sociopath.

Allow people space to decide on their own without your influence or coaxing whether to adhere to a supernatural force or agent outside of themselves, or whether to believe or not believe in a God of the universe, or whether to be a practicing Christian, or not be a practitioner of Christianity. I know myself I was never good at being a Christian. I knew this prior to walking away from the faith in 2019. Any choice to walk away from one’s faith should be yours and yours alone. However, there are far too many people who want to change and mold and shape people into what they want them to be and that is dangerous. Nine times of ten, you still won’t get exactly what you want out of the person you manipulated and tried to make and mold into the person you wanted him or her to be. Ultimately, people are going to be exactly what they were intended or destined to be. Not too many people can predict when they’re going to die, and the same goes for people not being able to predict the outcome of one’s life or future. While you’re busy making plans, life happens. While you’re trying to make and mold and shape people into who you want them to be, they’re going to be exactly who and what they were intended and destined to be.

Humanity Is On Trial: Reclaiming Faith In the Historical Yeshua Also Called Jesus was a project already in the making even though I didn’t know it until after watching the lecture by The Mighty Hebrew. For my follow-up book to “God Is On Trial,” I decided to publish another book entitled Humanity Is On Trial. I first mentioned this title to a friend in 2020 and, after watching the lecture by The Mighty Hebrew, I’m convinced that the title, Humanity Is On Trial, was destined. I must admit it was not until I watched The Mighty Hebrew’s lecture when I thought about my original stance on the historical Jesus and, as a result, I am reclaiming my faith in an historical Yeshua/Jesus based on empirical evidence outside of the Four Gospels of his existence in human form, as having walked the earth.

I never claimed to be the world’s foremost authority on anything. I am human. Humans make mistakes. Humans commit errors. Humans are wrong about many things. Humans don’t know everything.

Today, I don’t feel a sense of guilt for having stopped believing and practicing traditional Christianity in 2019. I do feel, perhaps, I should’ve done a lot more research and read more additional sources before forming conclusions that there was no historical Jesus/Yeshua/Yesha. I don’t feel like God is going to put me in the biblical Hell. I don’t feel like it’s too late for me. Neither do I feel that the True God has rejected me.

Recently, I was speaking with a friend about the difference between the biblical Yahweh and the One True Source (of all things in the universe). I also call the One True Source “the Source”, “the One”, “the One True God”, and “the True God”. As I’ve told many people for the past two years, I am not an atheist. I am agnostic.

When I spoke to my pastor on a phone call in January, I told her that I am agnostic. Pastor and I had a very profound conversation during which she never criticized me for leaving the church and Christianity. She never condemned me to Hell during that phone call. I expressed some thoughts to her about the COVID-19 virus and pandemic. I also told her that “maybe, I was wrong about everything.” I asked, “Could I have been wrong, Pastor?” I also said to her, “I was wrong, Pastor.” This good woman told me that it was okay, and that she knows I’m quick to listen to people and believe things and told me to hold on to Jesus. Pastor told me to hold on to Jesus even though I’d just admitted to her that I am agnostic. Ever since our phone conversation in January, I thought about that statement in which she told me to hold on to Jesus. Even though I admitted to my pastor that I am agnostic, she still did not condemn me to the biblical Hell like most Christians would have.

My decision to walk away from the church and Christianity in 2019 is just as I’d already said so many times for the past couple of years, I was depressed, having suicidal thoughts following the death of my mother in October 2017, thought God didn’t love me and care about me, and I also felt like God and the Son had forsaken me. I remember at the time that I was also dealing with financial problems, and difficulties on the job where I was experiencing workplace harassment, bullying, and discrimination from the store manager. I was really in a bad space, and I felt like God wasn’t moving quick enough in my life and wasn’t present to see about me. And from that mindset, I felt like God didn’t exist. I lost faith, and this did not happen overnight.

Chapter Two

Losing One's Faith Does Not Happen Overnight 

 

TO BE CONTINUED....