Bible excerpts supporting esoteric concepts

MASTER INDEX of articles written , posted online or recommended by Alex Paterson

INTRODUCTION

Given the dubious history of the Christian Church - both in terms of its recorded accuracy as well as the corrupt and nefarious behaviour of many of its representatives throughout its history - there is considerable doubt amongst religious scholars as to whether any of the deeper spiritual insights and teachings of Jesus the Nazarene (Yeshua) survive in the Bible. ¹

That said, a number of passages in the Bible supporting perennial esoteric spiritual concepts such as the essential 'ONENESS' ² pervading all reality and REINCARNATION ³ of souls seem to have survived.

Many people who have had some form of spiritual experience realise that Jesus would have undoubtedly been well aware of these concepts from personal experience.

The following bible excerpts would appear to support these assertions and are provided to promote thought and discussion on this issue. You are invited to agree with, disagree with, seek clarification about, or critique the article if you so wish.

NOTE: The version of the Bible quoted below is the King James version and can be downloaded by clicking here

SITE INDEX

AN OVERVIEW OF ESOTERIC SPIRITUAL THEORY

Esoteric spiritual theory postulates that all reality (the Universe), including the infinite un-manifested potential known as the VOID, is simply an expression of a single Creative Principle (or GOD for want of a better word). As such, the Universe is an infinite, undivided WHOLE. This concept implies an essential 'ONENESS' pervading all reality and an unbroken inter-connectedness between all the so-called 'separate' parts thereof. Along with everything else in the Universe, humans are individualised, but inseparable aspects of God.

Reincarnation is fundamental to Esoteric Spiritual Theory and is predicated upon the notion that human consciousness survives physical death, and that following a period of 'time' (not defined) in a non physical spiritual realm (known in the Bible as 'heaven') souls choose to rebirth into a new physical body in order to experience a new physical life on Earth. Reincarnation implies that souls choose their parents and the physical circumstances they are born into in order to gain physical experience pertaining to those circumstances and to balance the 'karma' incurred during other incarnations.

BIBLE EXCERPTS SUPPORTING THE 'ONENESS' OF ALL REALITY

Perennial esoteric spirituality is predicated upon one very simple, but fundamental universal 'truth' - namely that everything in the Universe is an expression of the consciousness of an infinite Singularity, which I choose to call Source and most others call God. This 'truth' is numero uno of reality, the one rule without exception so to speak (regula sine exceptione) and all else follows on from it. John's statement that "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God" clearly means what it says, namely that Creation (i.e. the Universe) is the product of the consciousness of God. The essential Oneness that underpins and pervades the Universe is clearly stated in the sentence "and the Word was God" which unequivocally indicates that the Universe is made out of God. It doesn't get much clearer than this.

Note: 'Word' is just an archaic expression for 'thought' and 'thought' is the expression of 'Mind'.

011:003 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
012:001 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
012:002 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
012:003 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
012:004 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
012:005 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
012:006 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
012:007 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
012:008 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
012:009 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
012:010 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
012:011 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
012:012 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
012:013 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
012:014 For the body is not one member, but many.
012:015 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
012:016 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?
012:017 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?
012:018 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
012:019 And if they were all one member, where were the body?
012:020 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

Throughout these passages, Jesus is clearly alluding to the essential 'ONENESS' pervading the Universe and unequivocally indicating that all humans are just an aspect of God, not just the so called 'chosen'. e.g. 012:013 "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles ... 012:014 For the body is not one member, but many." Jesus is also clearly indicating he is no different from any other human. e.g. 012:012 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

NOTE: 'Gentile' is a Jewish term used to describe non Jews or heathens (Source: Oxford Dictionary)

Acts (New Testament) contains an account about Paul's missionary journey to share his faith in Christ with the Athenians. He is recorded as saying of God:

Interestingly enough, this passage graphically illustrates the confusion Christian Theology has about the nature of human beings and their relationship with the Creator. Thus, the first sentence states; "For in him we live and move and have our being" which is an unequivocal acknowledgment that humans are an inseparable aspect of God. However, Paul then goes on to separate humanity from God by claiming "We are his offspring". Paul's confused interpretation of humanity's relationship to God was to eventually become the main basis of Christian theology ratified at Nicaea in 325 AD (namely, the separation of humanity from the Creator) and is known amongst some scholars of Christianity as the 'Paulian Heresy'.

Another example of Jesus alluding to the fact that humans are an inseparable aspect of God can be found in John - chapter 9 listed below

BIBLE EXCERPTS SUPPORTING REINCARNATION

There is evidence (e.g. Dead Sea Scrolls) that Jesus of Nazareth had dealings the Jewish Essene Sect. It is speculated that one of the main reasons the Catholic Church has chosen not to release all the Dead Sea Scrolls for public scrutiny is because they contain unequivocal evidence within them Jesus' involvement the Essene sect and that that sect strongly believed in reincarnation. Reincarnation was a widely held belief amongst many early 'Christians' (as well as some Jewish sects, the Essenes, the Gnostics and some Pharisees) up until AD 553, when the 5th Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church convened by the Roman Emperor Justinian at Constantinople declared the concept to be "an anathema". ⁴

It should be clearly understood that the concept of reincarnation is a serious threat to the power and authority of the Christian Church because it unequivocally renders as irrelevant the self appointed role of the Christian Clergy to "absolve sin and save sinners from descending into eternal hell".

003:001 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
003:002 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
003:003 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
003:004 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
003:005 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
003:006 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
003:007 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
003:008 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
003:009 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
003:010 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
003:011 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
003:012 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
003:013 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
003:014 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.
003:015 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

I've always found this to be a very interesting passage in the bible. To quote Peter Lemesurier from his book 'The Great Pyramid Decoded' (page 186):

Peter Lemesurier: "Unpalatable as the more traditional Pharisees such as Nicodemus might find it, the basic fact had to be faced: 'Unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven'. Nicodemus might try his hardest - as many Christians still do today - to pretend that Jesus' words meant something other than what they plainly said - the rebirth of the soul into a succession of earthly human bodies was absolutely basic to human existence. 'No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born from water and spirit,' continued Jesus, referring to man's dual nature as a physical being with a spiritual identity and inheritance. 'Flesh can give birth only to flesh; it is spirit that gives birth to spirit. You ought not be astonished, then, when I tell you that you must be born again. The wind (punning on a word which meant both wind and spirit) blows where it wills; you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from, or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born from spirit.' In other words, the history of our souls is generally unknown to us, as is the pattern of our future rebirths. All we know for certain is that they are with us now. But there was a time when we were fully spiritual beings ignorant of mortality. And by the same token we can regain that blessed state. 'No one ever went up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the son of man whose home is in heaven' continued Jesus using the customary orientalism 'son of man' for man. [Here Jesus is reminding us all of our spiritual origin whose 'home is in heaven'. AP] But 'fallen' man lacked the self-confidence to make that giant return leap. Man needed a leader, an exemplar, and that was the role that Jesus saw himself as playing. This 'son of man', indicating himself, 'must be lifted up as the serpent was lifted up by Moses in the wilderness, so that everyone who has faith in him may have everlasting life.' The serpent in question (Num. 21:6-9) had been a kind of talisman, the sight of which apparently gave to those who looked at it the will and the strength to recover from snake-bite. ⁵ Jesus was indicating that through the knowledge of his own example, man could learn to recover from his mortal sickness [of the need for constant rebirth associated with a loss of insight into humanity's true identity. AP] and rise again [to the spiritual realm known as "heaven" from whence we came. AP] Nothing magical, no all conquering saviours, no abstruse theological atonement-dogma. Merely the story of a man who voluntarily undertook the role of showing man the way out of his age-old enslavement to the cycle of physical rebirths, and of teaching him the knowledge of the Truth which alone could set him free." (Peter Lemesurier 1977)

Alex Paterson: Jesus is clearly incredulous at Nicodemus' ignorance about reincarnation. Thus, in answer to Nicodemus' question "How can these things be?" Jesus answered "how can you be a Jewish leader and not know of these things?" (i.e. 003:010 Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?) Then, becoming exasperated, Jesus continues by implying that Reincarnation is such a fundamental part of life on earth that it is an "earthly thing" and if Nicodemus couldn't understand that, what hope had he of understanding "heavenly things". (i.e. 003:012 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?)

Finally, Jesus unambiguously asserts that humans are spiritual beings whose origin is the purely spiritual realm of 'heaven' - and that it is humanity's inheritance to eventual return back to that state. 'No one ever went up into heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the son of man whose home is in heaven.'

This is a very interesting passage. Jesus' disciples are unambiguously voicing the possibility that the man in question may have been born blind as a punishment for sins he may have committed earlier in his existence. (i.e. associated with the ancient esoteric concept of Karma) Since the man in question was born blind, it is clear he could only have sinned in a previous incarnation (i.e. reincarnation), unless of course he had somehow 'sinned' in his mother's womb.

The question as posed by the disciples explicitly presupposes prenatal existence (i.e. reincarnation) and Jesus rather pointedly says absolutely nothing to dispel or correct that presupposition. Instead, Jesus alludes to yet another reason for the incarnation, that being "the works of God should be made manifest in him". This statement touches on the sophistication associated with earthly incarnation and dispels the notion that the only purpose for human incarnation is to balance negative karma. Thus for example, many highly evolved souls choose to incarnate in severely disabled physical bodies in order to provide other souls with the opportunity to exercise compassion and caring for a fellow human being. Finally, Jesus' comment that "the works of God should be made manifest in him" is a clear statement that humans are a manifestation of God. (See the ONENESS of all reality above)

017:010 And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?
017:011 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.
017:012 But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
017:013 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.

This is a very obvious reference to reincarnation which involves both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus was talking to his disciples Peter, James and John about Elias (Elijah) (Old Testament) and said "Elias does come first (i.e. before Jesus) and he is to restore all things; but I tell you Elias has come already and they did not know him, but did to him what they pleased. Then the disciples understood that he was speaking of John the Baptist." When the entity in question was incarnate as Elias (Old Testament) he was very well known and recognised as being Elias, so if a time came when "they did not know him" it was obviously a different incarnation, which the disciples understood to be as John the Baptist. (New Testament) John the Baptist was beheaded by King Herod, which is about as good example of "doing to him whatever they please" as one could ask for. Jesus also foretells of his own eventual execution. ("Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them")

FOOTNOTES:

1. Most Christians today are completely unaware of the history of the Christian Church or that the 'official' Catholic (meaning universal) doctrine of the Church was not arrived at until a council of religious leaders (from numerous religions, not just 'Christians') met at Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey) in 325 AD.

For more on the history of the Christian Church and the manifest shortcomings of Christian Theology that have emanated from that history see:

2. ONENESS: relates to the basic tenet of esoteric knowledge that a 'Universal Consciousness' associated with a single infinite entity or 'Creative Principle' (i.e. GOD) underlies all reality.

3. REINCARNATION is the perennial esoteric concept that all souls experience rebirth into a new life (incarnation) on Earth following each death with the circumstances of each new life being partly a result of the way previous lives were conducted. (via a process called Karma) Reincarnation clearly renders as irrelevant the self-appointed role of the Christian Church as "God's vicars on Earth" and their alleged ability to "absolve sin and save sinners from descending into an eternal hell".

Most of the references to reincarnation were formally removed from the Christian Scriptures at the behest of the Roman Emperor Justinian who convened the 5th Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church at Constantinople in AD 533 for the express purpose of removing all reference to reincarnation in the Bible.

4. ANATHEMA: Definition: a detested or cursed thing (Source: Oxford Dictionary)

5. According to Peter Lemesurier: "Moses' symbolism at this point seems to have been related to the Hermetic symbol of knowledge and healing - the staff bearing twin snakes presumably representative of the Outer and Inner Wisdom respectively. Moses appears to have been saying: 'You are suffering because you have been bitten by the physical snake only: keep your thoughts on the spiritual snake and all will be well." (Source: "The Great Pyramid Decoded' by Peter Lemesurier P 186)

BIBLE - The King James version of the Bible in pdf format.
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BELIEF SYSTEMS by Alex Paterson
RELIGION versus SPIRITUALITY by Alex Paterson
HOLOTROPIC STATES by Alex Paterson
NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE by Alex Paterson
PARADIGM by Alex Paterson
PARADOXES by Alex Paterson
A CRITIQUE OF WESTERN SCIENCE by Alex Paterson
OBSERVER EFFECT by Alex Paterson
PHILOSOPHICAL MATERIALISM by Alex Paterson
QUANTUM PHYSICS by Alex Paterson
THE FOUR STAGES OF TRUTH by Alex Paterson

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BIBLE EXCERPTS

In Support of Esoteric Spiritual Concepts

by

Alex PATERSON

INTRODUCTION

SITE INDEX

AN OVERVIEW OF ESOTERIC SPIRITUAL THEORY

BIBLE EXCERPTS SUPPORTING THE 'ONENESS' OF ALL REALITY

BIBLE EXCERPTS SUPPORTING REINCARNATION

FOOTNOTES:

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RELATED BOOKS:

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