Religion

First, I would like to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed the Master of Religion course. Over that past 20 lessons I have found myself taking a much deeper look into the King James Bible. Along with some of the alternative translations of the Bible, I came up with more than a few interesting differences in translation from ancient text to the King James version. Here is one of them from

Exodus 22:18 :

 Thou shall not suffer a witch to live was changed for the King James Bible from Thou shall not suffer a prisoner to live. 

It is also interesting to compare how some versions of the Bible have different versions of the same text. For example, the Roman Catholic Bible has Matthew 17: 14 quoted this way:

Roman Catholic Bible Matthew 17:14

  And, when he was come to the multitude, there came to him a man falling down on his knees before him, saying: Lord, have pity on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffereth much’ for he falleth often into fire and often into water.

While the Roman Catholic Bible only has it as verse 14, the King James Bible and the New International version have it as verses 14-15. You can see the other differences by comparing the Roman Catholic version to the texts below:

The King James version, Matthew 17:14-15

   And when they were come to him a certain man, kneeling down to him and saying,

15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into fire, and oft into water.

The New International version, Matthew 17:14-15

  When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him.  15 “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He is an epileptic and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into water.

I found that the lost Scriptures portion of the program inspired me to take a much deeper look into other Judeo/Christian texts, such as the Apocrypha, the Book of Enoch, as well as the Nag Hammadi library, also known as the Gospel of St. Thomas. Upon completing my study of the Gospel of St.Thomas, I found myself drawn back to this verse that I feel in many ways shows that Christ is not just in churches but is in all things, if you care to look for him.

(77)(Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained. Split a piece of wood; I am there.

Lift up the stone, and you will find me there."

I find this verse similar to this from Luke 17:20-21

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, `Lo, here it is!' or `There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."

I also found the work of Elaine Pagels, professor of religion at Princeton and an authority on Gnosticism, who argues that St. Paul was a Gnostic, to be of great value and well worth reading for those who wish to study this alternative version of Christianity.

After reading these texts I could see that there was much more to be found outside of the traditional Judeo/Christian text.

 One thing that I learned was that Jesus never mentioned starting a new religion; it seems to me more likely that he just wanted to reform Judaism, or set it on a new course. I found the books of British Jewish scholar Hyam Maccoby to be very helpful. Maccoby argued that the real Jesus was not a rebel against the Jewish law, but instead a Jewish Messianic claimant whose life and teaching were within the mainstream of first-century Judaism.

I now believe that Christianity was not so much formed by Jesus but evolved over many centuries. This new religion was founded not from any text that Jesus himself had authored but from the recollections and statements recorded by his followers, and their followers alike.

I know that some critics of the Bible feel these texts are a little disjointed but you must remember that these 66 individual books that make up the King James Bible were written on three continents, in over 3 languages, over a period of 1500 years, by more than 40 authors!

I started on this course searching for answers, and to become much more familiar with the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. I have not only learned more about the Bible but also about many alternative Judeo/ Christian texts, such as the Apocrypha, and various Gnostic texts. On completing this course, I have come to the conclusion that there are many other texts that were given on to man by God, and Christ, and that there are many other texts revealed to us by God’s Prophets. These can only enrich our lives, and help us find our way to God. 

As I have stated, I started on this course searching for answers, not knowing where to begin my search. Thanks to this course, I found myself searching in new directions, with a new-found openness to alternative lines of thought. I will continue my Spiritual Quest, as I still have many more questions that I am sure will take more than a lifetime to answer. 

Rev. Darrin L. Curreell

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.