| Author: | Dennis Carroll | ISBN: | 9781311170354 |
| Publisher: | Dennis Carroll | Publication: | November 28, 2013 |
| Imprint: | Smashwords Edition | Language: | English |
| Author: | Dennis Carroll |
| ISBN: | 9781311170354 |
| Publisher: | Dennis Carroll |
| Publication: | November 28, 2013 |
| Imprint: | Smashwords Edition |
| Language: | English |
To be raised in a good working class Southern Baptist Church gives one a lot of time to consider the intricacies of God and theology. It gives one pause to sit captive for an hour each Sunday learning how we were born in sin and that God is going to throw us into the deepest pits of a fiery hell if we don’t accept the love of his son Jesus. There are embellishments but this is the basic message. I never rejected any of this. Perhaps it is true.
But I have always felt that I was missing something and not getting the full story. Three Persian Priests suddenly show up at some kid’s birth in Judea with gifts. They had not been heard of before and they were not heard of since. How random is that? The two most famous religious figures of the time were cousins? The Angel Gabriel floats in and out of many religious stories. Where is this angel now? Why did he simply stop dropping in? Jesus had to wait three days before he raised Lazarus from the dead. Why wait? Bring the man back right away! Jesus was a very pious Jew, but, in my mind, he was changing the Law, not just adding to it. When, where and how did Jesus become King of the Jews? There is a tradition of Jesus on a trading mission to England, and another of Jesus and/or his twin brother, Judas Thomas, traveling to India (“Thomas” means “Twin”). Later in life I learned that Mary, Mother of Jesus, was an Essene of high standing and that the Gnostic religion still exists in Iran. They trace their traditions back in an unbroken line to its originator — John the Baptist.
The Da Vinci Code, a work of fiction by Dan Brown, renewed my interest in early Christianity. I started reading about Templars, Jesus’ wife and child retiring to France, and the historical undeniable great battle between Orthodox and Gnostic thought. I began to connect random facts into a coherent, internally consistent story. This is a work of fiction. Nevertheless, it is my attempt to create a back-story integrating all of the random facts with which I was concerned. Read this story as fiction but know this -- the Essenes really WERE expecting two Messiah’s.
To be raised in a good working class Southern Baptist Church gives one a lot of time to consider the intricacies of God and theology. It gives one pause to sit captive for an hour each Sunday learning how we were born in sin and that God is going to throw us into the deepest pits of a fiery hell if we don’t accept the love of his son Jesus. There are embellishments but this is the basic message. I never rejected any of this. Perhaps it is true.
But I have always felt that I was missing something and not getting the full story. Three Persian Priests suddenly show up at some kid’s birth in Judea with gifts. They had not been heard of before and they were not heard of since. How random is that? The two most famous religious figures of the time were cousins? The Angel Gabriel floats in and out of many religious stories. Where is this angel now? Why did he simply stop dropping in? Jesus had to wait three days before he raised Lazarus from the dead. Why wait? Bring the man back right away! Jesus was a very pious Jew, but, in my mind, he was changing the Law, not just adding to it. When, where and how did Jesus become King of the Jews? There is a tradition of Jesus on a trading mission to England, and another of Jesus and/or his twin brother, Judas Thomas, traveling to India (“Thomas” means “Twin”). Later in life I learned that Mary, Mother of Jesus, was an Essene of high standing and that the Gnostic religion still exists in Iran. They trace their traditions back in an unbroken line to its originator — John the Baptist.
The Da Vinci Code, a work of fiction by Dan Brown, renewed my interest in early Christianity. I started reading about Templars, Jesus’ wife and child retiring to France, and the historical undeniable great battle between Orthodox and Gnostic thought. I began to connect random facts into a coherent, internally consistent story. This is a work of fiction. Nevertheless, it is my attempt to create a back-story integrating all of the random facts with which I was concerned. Read this story as fiction but know this -- the Essenes really WERE expecting two Messiah’s.
