January 6, 2016
Post #12
Dear Readers,
We are dedicated to the absolute co-equality and balance between men and women! Our premise is that God created us this way to be whole, complete, unified – as One, through one another, masculine and feminine. We are discussing how the Word of God as taught by Jesus of Nazareth was willfully or inadvertently misrepresented or misunderstood such that men came to believe they were somehow more equal.
This weblog, our pamphlets, study guides and other materials are inspired by Miguel’s book, The Word 2.0, a new biography of Jesus of Nazareth in his own words, based upon a single, unified timeline.
Find us at Amazon.com or our website: www.whatifjesuswasawoman.com
Whether or not you agree please “share” us with your friends, and be our “friend”!
You are reading one in a year-long series on the “Feminine-ist” teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.
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God is One!
God is undifferentiated masculine and feminine energy in perfect balance, whole, complete, unified, and co-equal! God is neither male nor female, and yet both – inseparable! And yet God made each of us manifest male and female, man and woman, in God’s perfect likeness! Truly a state of grace.
How Adam’s actions brought about the fall from this state of grace is something we will discuss elsewhere. Suffice it to say that long before Jesus was born, men and women were already out of balance. In the more immediate sense of events which took place in Israel before Jesus was born, I found the Seleucid Greek invasion critically important because of the belief system we call “Hellenism” the Greeks forced on the children of Israel at that time.
It may not be especially well known today but the Seleucid Greeks from Syria outlawed our One True God! They forbade the worship of God under the penalty of death. Their King Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Antíochos D’ ho Epiphanḗs, “God Manifest”), believing he was god, decreed the people would have no other god before him.
Coin depicting King Antiochus IV: “Image of (G)od; bearer of victory”
Hellenism did cause divisions among the people though. On one hand identifying with the Greek empire and culture could enrich certain elite Israelites, but on the other hand their man-worship violated God’s Law. This divided not only those who were “Hellenists”, their supporters and adherents, from those who were “Traditionalists“, but also, apparently, men from women. Why? Because it is also in the nature of Hellenism that women be subordinate to men.
But our One True God was definitely not a Hellenist, right? Given that, Jesus was not a Hellenist – quite the opposite. We might characterize Jesus’ ministry as anti-Hellenist – teaching men in particular about the Divine Balance of God’s Feminine and Masculine aspects, specifically “Feminine-ism“. I briefly outline some basic principles of Jesus of Nazareth’s life and ministry, as they are revealed in “The Word 2.0”:
1. Jesus was a “Traditional” Hebrew-Jewish teacher and Rabbi – to say the very least!
2. Jesus was not a “Hellenist” in any sense of our understanding the word.
3. Jesus espoused and promoted that our One True God – the God of Israel, is a perfect co-equal balance of both masculine and feminine, as is reflected in all Creation.
4. Jesus said that we must love the Lord our God first and foremost, and then love one another as we love ourselves.
5. Jesus taught that love, beginning with God’s “Ruach HaKodesh” – the Breath of Life and Holy Spirit, as aspects of God’s Divine Feminine, is the only way that men can experience the Kingdom of God.
6. Jesus rejected the kind of egocentric, selfish, self-centered thinking and behavior of men that characterizes “Hellenism”.
We will discuss each of these points in much greater detail as we continue, and, look for my study guides they will soon also be available!
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References are to pages in the book. Other references attributed to Wikipedia with thanks.
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Chapter 1, “Inception” (Pages 36 – 38), includes an excerpt and discussion of the ‘Revolt of the Maccabees’, from the inter-testamental books, entitled “Rededicate the Temple”. Within the scope of Jesus’ ministry we felt this was very important, perhaps key material to include – essential context if you will.
From the research, the first most influential aspect of these events taking place about 160 years before Jesus’ birth is the fact of the Greek invasion of Israel. We certainly encourage every reader to explore this era for themselves because in the wake of Alexander the Great‘s death in approximately 323 B.C.E., the Greek Empire was divided. According to Wikipedia, “Hellenistic kingdoms were established throughout south-west Asia (the Seleucid Empire; 312 – 63 B.C.E.) and north-east Africa (the Ptolemaic Kingdom) and South Asia (the Greco-Bactrian / Indo-Greek Kingdom”. Their influence peaked between 320 B.C.E. and their defeat by the Romans about 30 B.C.E.
Narrowing our focus, it was the Seleucid’s who invaded Israel and attempted to impose their brand of “Hellenism” on Jewish population. We have discussed their outlawing our One True God, punishing the worship of God with death, defiling the Temple in Jerusalem, while installing Antiochus IV Epiphanes – their “(G)od Manifest on Earth” (see the reference above). And we have discussed their man-worship based belief system and its influence on Hebrew-Jewish culture – referred to as “Hellenizing” – whereby women were actively subordinate to the will of men. So in this first instance, Jesus ministered about our One True God, standing against to these Hellenizing influences in Israel – men in particular – to re-establish the precepts of God’s Divine Balance, the absolute co-equality of men and women, and the restoration of God’s Tabernacle Earth.
Which leads us to the second influential aspect of those times upon Jesus’ ministry. Following the victory of the “Revolt of the Maccabees“, it is widely held that it was the Sadducees who aligned with the Maccabees as the “Traditionalists” in opposition to the Hellenists. At the same time, that it was the Pharisees who aligned with the Hellenists. Simply put, we now better understand why it was that Jesus’ ministry to men, and their perceptions of themselves and of women, seemed directed at the Pharisees.
Peace On Earth & God’s Will Toward Women!
Miguel
