In The Hands of a Mere Human

A friend asked me to look at Christopher Hitchens' video The Fabrication of Jesus Christ as he wanted my take on it. I thought I would use the video as a point of discussion to relay some of my knowledge about Jesus Christ. I want to mention though that my take on Jesus was exactly as Hitchens proposed before I had my mystical union. So, I do have some sympathy for this atheist. Nevertheless, this video provides a good demonstration of what happens when documents meant for mystics are put in the hands of a nonenlightened human.

1. Hitchens begins with the idea that Socrates may not have existed but that there was someone in antiquity who advanced the method ascribed to him. He believes that the same phenomena may have been the case with Jesus. I doubt it. If we look at the history of the world's major religions and many of the minor sects we see that most have been founded by actual people who claimed that their religious message was in response to a mystical union with the Almighty. Those mystics, who successfully negotiated their awakening, then went on to become charismatic figures with insight into what could correct the wrong in their societies. Also, these enlightened ones had immense faith in their ability to bring their message to the masses around them. I believe Jesus was among this group of mystics.

Furthermore, I do not believe that the ancients would have taken time and resources to write about Jesus' mission if they were not convinced that He had something important to say for the generations to follow. Writing was not an ubiquitous activity as it is now.

However, I am disappointed in how these ancient scribes depicted Jesus in the New Testament. I found The Book of Thomas The Contender, in the Nag Hammadi Library, did a better job at relaying JC's message about the need for our humility and its relationship to the evolutionary task of the human animal.

2. Hitchens believes Jesus was a deluded religious fanatic. He thinks he was deluded because some of the New Testament books state that Jesus was born of a virgin. However, if you look at any red letter version you can see that Jesus himself never made that claim. Another point to consider is that the Gospel of Mark was actually the first book written and the other gospels came after. Mark makes no claim of virgin births. What scholars now believe is that the early followers of Jesus, in their attempt to lure so-called pagans into their fold, came up with stories they thought these pagans would fall for. And,these far-fetched tales of virgin births and resurrections did bedazzle many into becoming a part of JC"s flock. But, unfortunately these fantastical fabrications, alongside legitimate information, were passed down and ended up obscuring the really important stuff.

3. Another reason that Hitchens believes Jesus to be deluded is because he told his followers to abandon their families and follow him. All of us have heard about families who do not want their adult children pursuing a religious path different from the family tradition. Jesus had new insights that superseded the traditional understanding of the Jews of his time. He did not want his followers to let family tradition interfere in their ability to contribute to the promotion of his vital message about the evolution of the human primate.

4. Hitchens ends this short video with his analysis of the female followers of JC. He dismisses them as merely hysterical women awestruck by a charismatic figure. These ladies were mothers, grandmothers and maybe even great grandmothers who had a vested interest in what happens to the species. It is highly likely that these women knew Jesus' message best of all and realized that the evolution of our species hinges upon our willingness to acquire humility. In this sense then, one can't blame them for being fanatical about wanting Jesus' message to become common knowledge. Maybe if others with more influence had joined them at the time, our species would be in a better place right now.

Faithfully yours,

Sheila Banks

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