“Let’s look at what we actually know about Jesus.”  This statement may take some of you by surprise; you might believe that everything that is written in Scripture is true.  What is true is this: every book the Bible was written by a human being with an ax to grind.  Every book was aimed at a particular group of people and had a particular agenda.  These agendas were frequently in conflict with one another.  Close examination of the Scriptures reveals the truth of this.

I grew up in the 1950s and learned in church and Sunday school that the Bible was the inerrant word of God.  The story went something like this: each of the books of the Bible was written by a single human being.  In some unknown and mystical way, God – it was never clear whether it was the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit – dictated to each writer every single word of that book.  The writer carefully took down God’s dictation, and good Christians, therefore, believed every single word.

I wish this were true!  

If it were true, we wouldn’t have to puzzle over the inconsistencies in the Bible.  Everything would be clear and our only job would be to believe it.  Sadly, this is not the case.

In the last 150 years or so, scholars have uncovered a very different reality.  Beginning with the careful archaeology of the 19^th century, and using the scientific tools developed in the 20^th , scholars have uncovered a very complex picture, which is totally at odds with my childhood understanding, and perhaps yours as well.

My choice, and yours, is whether to accept these contemporary findings or hold onto the simpler understandings of an earlier time.  Because I happen to believe that Jesus spoke a deep spiritual truth – deeper by far than my childhood understanding – I tend to accept the contemporary view of Scripture.

In that vein, I’m going to make a series of statements here that I believe are true and correct.  Later I will explore each of these statements in depth.  So, hold onto your hat and buckle your seatbelt – you are in for quite a ride today!  

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Let’s start with the birth of Jesus.  He was born of Mary under unusual circumstances.  

It seems highly unlikely that Mary was divinely inseminated.  This story is a mythic story, and clear parallels can be seen in the birth stories of other holy people. 

This suggests that Jesus may have been a bastard.  Sounds harsh, doesn’t it, but that’s the technical term for someone born out of wedlock.  

Jesus may have grown up being scorned and ridiculed as a result.  This may explain his deep consideration and care for those on the margins of society.

Jesus was a male human being who grew up in a very patriarchal culture.  Despite this, and quite unusual for the time, he appears to have treated women as equals.

Jesus was raised in Nazareth in what is now Israel.  As the step-son of a carpenter, he likely followed that trade.  Because he had a trade, he was likely in the middle-class of his era.

If Jesus was human, he made mistakes.  Some of his mistakes are fairly obvious: for example, he thought the world would come to a cataclysmic end soon after his death.  Obviously, this did not happen, which means he was mistaken.  This mistake is hugely important because if Jesus could make one mistake, then he could make others as well.

In essence, this means that the Son of God is not infallible.

Jesus was Jewish, not Christian.  Christianity as a separate faith came decades after his death.

Jesus was literate, as per the story of Jesus reading in the Temple at age 12, and writing in the dust as described in the story of the woman caught in adultery.

Jesus was disruptive:  claiming that the poor were specially blessed, that the meek would inherit the earth, etc.  This would have been very disruptive to the Jewish understandings of the time, just as it is disruptive to us in our own time.

Jesus preached an understanding that explicitly acknowledged a divinity that dwells in each person’s heart. (See John 14) This was blasphemy for the Jews of that era, and it ultimately resulted in his death.  YHWH was so holy, not even his name could be spoken aloud.

Jesus preached “Love your neighbor.”  This must have been really hard to swallow for the Jews who lived under Roman occupation.

Jesus performed a variety of miracles.  The miracles recorded in the New Testament are similar in kind to the miracles attributed to other holy people within Christianity and in other religions.  My research, described in Inside the Invisible: The Universal Path to Spiritual Transcendence, thoroughly explores these phenomena.

Jesus was arrested by the Jewish authorities, tortured, tried by Pontius Pilate and sentenced to death.

Jesus died and was buried in a tomb.  His corpse disappeared from the tomb several days later.

Jesus appeared, apparently in a physical body, to the disciples and others after his death.  Thomas, for example, was encouraged to put his hand in the wound in Jesus’s side.

Before Jesus left this world, he promised to be with his disciples forever, and, after he left this world, that he would do whatever they asked of him if they prayed in his name.

Then he disappeared.  

Since that disappearance, Jesus has been seen by many in visions, etc.

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This is quite a list, isn’t it?  While I have understood each of these statements to be true, this is the first time I have ever written them all down and actually seen them altogether.  Now as I look at them – as I reread them over and over – it feels appalling!  I am sitting here asking myself, “What have I done?”

What I have attempted to do is to follow my Lord.  I have attempted, as best as I can, to discern and state the truth.  I hope that comes through to each of you.  

When put together like this, the truth looks a lot different than what I expected.  On reflection, I’m not sure what I expected – but whatever it was, it certainly was not this.

I can appreciate that, as a result of this list, some of you may no longer wish to receive these emails.  If I have offended you, please accept my most sincere apologies.  My intention has never been to offend; it has always been to tell the truth as best as I can.  If you need to, you can unsubscribe simply by clicking the button at the bottom of this email.

For those of you who choose to stay with me, I promise to explore each of these statements more deeply in our upcoming newsletters.  I believe in the wonderful words of my Lord, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8.32  

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At this moment, I am simply exhausted and need to take a break.  Please remember to take daily breaks yourselves.  Some of you will find it useful to reflect on the words of Scripture.  Others will find it helpful to sit in stillness with our Lord.  Follow the path to which your heart inclines, and I will see you next week.

May God make his face to smile upon you, this day, and always!

P.S.  These newsletters were written in a particular order, but due to the limitations of our email delivery system, we cannot send them in the order in which they were written.  We can send out the first five in order, but then the system sends out the next one, whatever that happens to be.

So, if you are suddenly moving from issue #5 to issue #whatever, it might be a little jarring.  If this sounds like you, I would encourage you to go back into our archives and do your best to read them in order. 

Humility as a Tool  → Letting go → Fear → Openness →  Acceptance & Growth

If you are finding this newsletter course helpful, you may want to consider Dr. Kaisch's latest book, Inside the Invisible:  The Universal Path to Spiritual Transcendence.👇

To access the other newsletter editions of the “Inside The Invisible Newsletter,” or if you’d like to read ahead or go back.

Please Note: These newsletters are meant to be read in order.