Jesus clearly was a teacher of non-duality, and this was promptly subverted into a dualistic teaching by Peter and Paul, though maybe it survived longer in certain other channels. The way to sort it out is by realizing that the sequence of the written evidence is first the Thomas Gospel from ca 35-50, then Mark from ca 55-65 and next Matthew/Luke from 75 or so. The Thomas Gospel is entirely free of the editorial hand of Paul and Peter c.s., and Mark begins to show some of it, and the "Christianization," of the story has begun, with Luke and Matthew, Jesus is completely turned into a wordly phenomenon that sets up the eventual acceptance by the Roman Emperor under Constantine. In second century gnosticism there is a brilliant flare up with Valentinus, who may be closer to what Jesus teaches than anything else. And in our day and age there is A Course in Miracles, which returns to the non dualistic roots of the teachings. Around the time when Jefferson was in Paris, this conceptual break between Jesus and Peter & Paul was an active topic of conversation, and again this led Jefferson to creating his "Jefferson Bible," which focused on what jesus said, and got rid of the surrounding narrative. Unsurprisingly, by focusing on the sayings, Jefferson produced an approximation of Thomas, 150 years before Thomas was rediscovered. Clearly it had been a primary sourse for the synoptics, along with the "X" material, which we can at best reconstruct as a source.
Hi Rogier, thanks for your comment! First, I clearly agree that Jesus was a teacher of non-duality. I also agree with your point regarding Paul and Peter, which I have considered in previous newsletters. However, my point “in this newsletter” is in considering the influence of “the Church” on modern reality. Because “X” and what used to be called “Q” in addition to the apocryphal gospels which were removed from the “official” Catholic Bible, and I have read these gospels and they offer interesting considerations of their own, however they are not critical to the “Church’s” argument and influence in the world. So, this newsletter is not about “Jesus’ teaching,” it is about what the Church did with it; which was to essentially move back toward the empiricism of duality. Therefore, although the teachings of Jesus were designed to transcend duality, the Church’s teachings often re-introduced it in various ways. Also, your point about Jefferson, and others, being suspect of “Pauline” doctrine was also considered in previous newsletters. Remember Rogier, you can only get so much in a single newsletter and each newsletter is only one consideration. The overall consideration is a six-book series! Take care!
Interesting attempt, however it misses the point.
Jesus clearly was a teacher of non-duality, and this was promptly subverted into a dualistic teaching by Peter and Paul, though maybe it survived longer in certain other channels. The way to sort it out is by realizing that the sequence of the written evidence is first the Thomas Gospel from ca 35-50, then Mark from ca 55-65 and next Matthew/Luke from 75 or so. The Thomas Gospel is entirely free of the editorial hand of Paul and Peter c.s., and Mark begins to show some of it, and the "Christianization," of the story has begun, with Luke and Matthew, Jesus is completely turned into a wordly phenomenon that sets up the eventual acceptance by the Roman Emperor under Constantine. In second century gnosticism there is a brilliant flare up with Valentinus, who may be closer to what Jesus teaches than anything else. And in our day and age there is A Course in Miracles, which returns to the non dualistic roots of the teachings. Around the time when Jefferson was in Paris, this conceptual break between Jesus and Peter & Paul was an active topic of conversation, and again this led Jefferson to creating his "Jefferson Bible," which focused on what jesus said, and got rid of the surrounding narrative. Unsurprisingly, by focusing on the sayings, Jefferson produced an approximation of Thomas, 150 years before Thomas was rediscovered. Clearly it had been a primary sourse for the synoptics, along with the "X" material, which we can at best reconstruct as a source.
Hi Rogier, thanks for your comment! First, I clearly agree that Jesus was a teacher of non-duality. I also agree with your point regarding Paul and Peter, which I have considered in previous newsletters. However, my point “in this newsletter” is in considering the influence of “the Church” on modern reality. Because “X” and what used to be called “Q” in addition to the apocryphal gospels which were removed from the “official” Catholic Bible, and I have read these gospels and they offer interesting considerations of their own, however they are not critical to the “Church’s” argument and influence in the world. So, this newsletter is not about “Jesus’ teaching,” it is about what the Church did with it; which was to essentially move back toward the empiricism of duality. Therefore, although the teachings of Jesus were designed to transcend duality, the Church’s teachings often re-introduced it in various ways. Also, your point about Jefferson, and others, being suspect of “Pauline” doctrine was also considered in previous newsletters. Remember Rogier, you can only get so much in a single newsletter and each newsletter is only one consideration. The overall consideration is a six-book series! Take care!