R A N D O M   R A N T S GROSS MISTRANSLATION OF JESUS From an unbiased historical perspective and, unlike Christianity in all of its twisted and insidious incarnations has grossly misrepresented him for centuries, it is fair to say that Jesus is neither the founder of Christianity or any other religion. Rather, it is far more accurate to conclude Jesus is the founder of human and civil rights and free quality public education for the masses, as well as the Messiah sent from God to save humanity from our sins. Jesus is by far the most misunderstood and misrepresented individual in human history. He far more fairly belongs in the categories "human behavior" and "morality and ethics", rather than "religion", although there is no single category accurately representing him, as his teachings and actions span history, psychology, science, logic, ethics, education, literature, philosophy and virtually every major category invented. The words and deeds of Jesus are foundationally focused on the axiom that we should treat other people the way we want them to treat us. For this reason we will not kill, we will not steal, we will not falsely accuse and, if there is anything else that matters in securing love, freedom, peace, equality and justice on earth, it is summed up in this, that we should love our neighbor as our self. As an example of how poorly translated most bibles are today, the now famous John 3:16-17 is more accurately translated as: "For God so loved the people that he gave the only begotten son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the people, but that the people through him, might be saved." Changing the poorly translated vague and impersonal "world" to "the people" (Greek; sea of humanity) significantly underscores the true intention. Note how much more "people-centered" this more accurate translation is, which is consistent with Jesus being portrayed as champion and friend of the common people throughout the New Testament narrative. The word translated as "church" in modern bibles, does not at all refer to either a religion or a religious organization or building of any kind and, it is actually a bad translation. The correct translation is "assembly". The book of Acts for example, clearly states that God "does not live in temples made with hands." Note how the Bible does not refer to a "little man in the sky" in reference to God, as many modern atheists are found of misrepresenting. Rather, according to the Bible, the heavens and what lies beyond cannot contain God and, in God we "live and move and have our being." Modern science is aware that trillions of microbes are living within every human being and it is believed there are far more viruses than any other form of life on earth. Thus, it is not at all hard to accept that God is everywhere and we live within God. Can a virus inhabiting a microbe living within the intestines of a human being, accurately say there is no human being, probably no human being or might be no human being upon which it depends for its very survival? And likewise, can human beings say with any honesty at all that there is no God, probably no God or might be no God? How would they know, what evidence do they have for how else the universe happens to exist. And, why should common average people either believe them or pay taxes to have our children 'educated' by purveyors of such gross superstition? What evidence do they have that energy, heat, motion, light, gazillions zillions trillions of parts within parts, life, intelligence, the highly complex dual language and functionality of DNA or even something as rudimentary as human mathematics, can magically exist without an Eternal Primary Cause and Supreme Intelligence behind the grand design universal reality? The correct translation "assembly" is borrowed from the Greek word for political assembly, "ekklesia". Apparently, Jesus himself chose this particular commonly understood secular term to define followers of Jesus, which is again consistent with the champion of the common people New Testament portrayal of him. Since the death of Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King, Jr. note how badly today we need a true champion of the common people to offset the greed and avarice of the wealthy, powerful, famous and elite among us. Such need is also overwhelmingly true regarding common people throughout the record of human civilization. It should be of supreme interest to anyone involved with modern activism and everyone with even a tiny bit of education and historical perspective, that the real historical Jesus is not the founder of a conservative religion (which he utterly hated) nor a religion for the rich and powerful and silvery of tongue, as he is severely grossly misrepresented as being in the modern age, nor the founder of any religion, unless one believes loving one another is a religion. There is no such thing as a "prosperity gospel" found anywhere in the Bible and, anyone claiming to represent Jesus who pockets more than the average common person for their own use, is a liar and a fraud. Those who become wealthy by tugging at the pious heartstrings of well-meaning common people, are the worst kind of grifters, charlatans and frauds within the history of humanity. Consider that Jesus and Peter, James, John, Paul and his other early followers, were among the poorest of people and yet, they still gave to the poor. Paul, often blamed for modern conservative Christianity, worked as a tent maker to support himself, while many if not most historians consider Paul to be among the most liberal authors in history. Religious quacks claiming to represent Jesus who wear odd hats, vestment gowns, other religious garments, crystal crosses and other trinkets, belong in a mental institution. Perhaps the only thing worse than this are those who handsomely profit off of what they call "the gospel", which by-and-in-large, are the same people. Many religious-sounding words found in most modern bibles are in fact Old English mistranslations. For example, in the Koine Greek, the secular "good news" is correct, rather than gospel (an obscure Old Saxon word meaning "Godspell"}; disciple means "follower" or "student", doctrine means "teaching", epistle means either a formal or personal letter and preach means "to proclaim". Anybody can proclaim the good news about Jesus, a degree in a theological cemetery is not required and invariably gets in the way and confuses average people. Jesus is not about theology, he is about forgiveness, grace, mercy, love, peace, life and freedom for all people. According to Jesus himself, he came "to heal the broken-hearted", "to proclaim liberty to the captives" and "to set at liberty those who are oppressed", the opposite of how his name is routinely and consistently misrepresented, misused and otherwise abused here in the 21st Century. We should be wise enough to read the New Testament for ourselves, rather than depending on "blind leaders of the blind." Read the Jesus Story for Free Online Click Here to Go Back to Contents Click Here to eMail the Author Copyright © by Richard Aberdeen.  Copyright © by Freedom Tracks Records. No part of this material may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher and signed by the author. For inquiries, please contact Freedom Tracks Records.  The essays entitled Revolution and Revolution ~ Side B are open copyright and may be reproduced and distributed as desired.