Author: Richard R. Tryon, Sr.
WHETHER JESUS IS GOD'S SON OR WAS 'JUST A GOOD MAN' has been the most zealously disputed of all theological questions; now it becomes the field of inquiry in which our study will supply the irrefutable answer by means of not-previously-available explanatory truth.
In an earlier chapter we have independently concluded that a Son of God inevitably exists as a person who originated in Heaven, and that it was also inevitable that the Deity would send that Son to Earth at a certain time of human crisis to keep Mankind from a total reversion to Proto-man's zero of moral and theological ignorance. We have also earlier concluded that although God's Son is divine he should not be regarded as a co-God member of a triune Deity. On the other hand, our study has not -- as yet -- identified God's Son as the person known on Earth as Jesus.
Now let us note three different concepts among nominal Christians concerning the status of Jesus. The first of these, as stated in the Nicene Creed, says that Jesus was "begotten of his Father," that he came down from Heaven," and that he was born on Earth "of the Virgin Mary." The second of the related concepts has held that Jesus, instead of pre-existing in Heaven, was "adopted" as God's Son during his life on Earth. This view has usually been combined with a contention that Jesus was not born of a virgin but was conceived by an ordinary sexual process. The third view has been that Jesus is not and never was God's Son but that he should be venerated by Mankind because he was so "good" that he even sacrificed his life in seeking to help his fellowmen attain peace and happiness on Earth.
It has not been surprising that the first of the foregoing concepts has been challenged by the second and the third. Many centuries have passed since the Nicene Creed was promulgated, yet until the present day no theologians have ever possessed a means to explain scientifically how a Son of God could have been "begotten" in Heaven, or how -- after living in Heaven -- he was able to "come down" to Earth, or how -- after his pre-existence in Heaven -- he could still be born as an infant on Earth. In addition, theology has lacked any scientific explanation of how it was or could have been possible for the infant Jesus to have had his earthly body constructed in the womb of a virgin. Thus, in its lack of the related explanations, the Church has had to rely on evasive responses to the related questions, even with some responses being contradictory to others.
For example, Nicene orthodoxy has depicted God as a person capable of "begetting" a Son in Heaven. Yet, one portion of Christian theology has portrayed God as merely a logos -- which became incarnate by a mystical translation of itself into the person of Jesus. Hence, this position paradoxically implies there was no God-person until Jesus himself came into existence. It implies even that Jesus, instead of being a Son of God, is actually the only God-with-body. Likewise, the Church has had to fend-off questions concerning the claim of his virgin birth with the stock retort that "all things are possible with God" -- thereby implying incorrectly that the Deity violates the physical laws of nature by some unidentified process of mumbo-jumbo.
Let us now proceed, therefore, by noting again that our logic has independently accounted for the inevitable origin of both a God-person and a Son-person in Heaven, has explained the true nature of the Holy Spirit, and has supplied preliminary explanations of how being from Heaven have been able to make bodily visits to Earth. Thus, our present chapter will need to be concerned chiefly with the explanatory details which will show how it was that Jesus was indeed born to a virgin on Earth subsequent to his pre-existence in Heaven -- not in violation of the laws of nature but rather in total conformity thereto.
THE COMING OF A MESSIAH TO EARTH had been foretold by the Hebrew prophets as noted in our previous chapter. Moreover, they had said he would be born to a virgin in the House of David in the village of Bethlehem. Thus, although most of the Jews at the time of Jesus rejected him as an impostor, they had nevertheless recognized there was surely some Messianic purpose connected with the genetics of David's lineage.
On the other hand, the early Christians were misled concerning one major detail of that genetic factor. Thus, identifying Joseph of the House of David as the husband of a virgin named Mary, and identifying her as the one who gave birth to the earthly body of Jesus, both the Gospels of Matthew and Luke assumed it was imperative to trace the lineage associated with Jesus through Joseph rather than through Mary. On the other hand, neither Matthew nor Luke implied that Joseph was the natural father of Jesus. Indeed, Matthew says that "When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit." Likewise, and in greater detail, Luke tells of Mary being notified by an angel that she would conceive an infant by a mysterious process not requiring sexual intercourse. Nevertheless, the genealogies provided by Matthew and Luke are significant because in agreeing that Joseph was of the Adam-David lineage, they correctly imply that Mary was of the same lineage also.
Matthew began his genealogical list with Abraham. Luke, more perceptive of the theological importance of Adam, began his roll with the name of Earth's first Real-man, the discoverer of the knowledge of good and of evil. Moreover, between David and Joseph, Matthew's list includes 26 names while Luke's includes 4l. These are unimportant discrepancies, however, because there is abundant other evidence to establish that both Joseph and Mary were of the Davidic lineage, and because our logic is going to lead to a startling scientific and theological conclusion that even Mary's lineage made no genetic contribution to the infant to whom she gave birth.
Still deferring our explanation of how the virginal pregnancy of Mary was accomplished, we note that she was already heavy with her unborn child when she and Joseph traveled about 75 miles from Nazareth to the village of Bethlehem where Jesus was born soon after they arrived. They had gone to Bethlehem because a taxation census decreed by Caesar Augustus required each Jew to list himself at the headquarters of his lineage. Thus, because Bethlehem was the "City of David," we can know that Joseph knew himself to be of Davidic descent. In turn, because he knew his lineage, the discrepancies in the genealogical lists provided by Luke and Matthew are no cause for doubt of Joseph's lineage. That Mary was of the same lineage as Joseph is proven, however, by the manner in which Jesus' earthly body was actually conceived and by the proof available of his actual status. Moreover, it is significant that the prophets -- in speaking of a virgin of the House of David who would give birth to the Messiah -- made no mention of whether or not a man who might become her husband would be of the David lineage also, thereby showing that his lineage would be a matter only of secondary importance.
Our logic next proceeds by noting the high significance of the birth of John the Baptist to Mary's cousin Elizabeth. The events leading to this birth began while Zacharias, the husband of Elizabeth, was performing a priestly function in the Jerusalem Temple. At that time, an angel who identified himself by the name of Gabriel suddenly became visible to announce to Zacharias that Elizabeth would give birth to a son who should be named John, and who would be "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb." Because of his own advanced age and that of Elizabeth, Zacharias showed himself doubtful of the angel's message. Thus, because a priest should not have doubted an angel, Gabriel caused Zacharias to be stricken mute, unable to speak again until John would be born.
Now let us perceive that a healing miracle had to be performed for the elderly Elizabeth. In other words, Elizabeth's problem was the same as had been that of Sarah, Abraham's wife, many centuries earlier; a non-functioning ovary had to be made to ovulate. Thus, even though the Bible does not mention any specific act of healing in either of these cases, we can know that such a miracle necessarily had to be performed, even as analogous miracles were frequently performed by Jesus in later years. Again, however, we postpone analysis of how such ovulation was caused to occur-- except to mention our earlier conclusion that the Holy Spirit is a kind of electronic particles which can enter the ordinary cells of bodily organs, under special circumstances, as an additive to or substitute for the ordinary particles of which all cells are composed, and by noting the cryptic significance of Gabriel's statement that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit even at the instant of birth. Hence, we begin to comprehend that the reason this infant would be born with a high content of the Holy Spirit was that Elizabeth had received an infusion of such particles to heal the ovarian limitations of her advanced age. Moreover, it is obvious and of great added significance that the infusion which Elizabeth received was administered -- not by God as in the case of Sarah and not by Jesus who had not yet been even conceived in an earthly body -- by none other than an angel; in this case, Gabriel.
Next, let us note that Elizabeth did conceive, as Gabriel had promised, and was in the sixth month of her pregnancy when the same angel made an even more astonishing announcement to Mary. But was it really an angel who spoke to Zacharias and Mary? In our modern World, we know that no angels have been seen (at least not to be identified as such) for many centuries. Nevertheless, our earlier logic has made it clear that angels were at least one species who originated aeons ago in Heaven and that some of these have visited Earth -- where members of our own species named them "angels" (i.e., "messengers") because the bearing of messages seemed to be the principal earthly function which these visitors from Heaven performed. Also, we have noted that the same Cosmic Formula which produced ourselves surely gave the angels bodies almost the same as our own, yet sufficiently superior for them to be easily recognized as such. Finally, in the light of modern science's knowledge of the electronic nature of all substance we can no longer be surprised that the angels, as well as God and God's Son, could choose to be either visible or invisible in their presence on Earth.
Six months after Gabriel spoke to Zacharias, we find, Mary and Joseph were already betrothed and living (presumably in Nazareth) when the same angel appeared unto Mary and saluted her with highly formal respect. "Hail, Mary; thou art highly favored," he said. "The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women."
Thoughts of wonderment raced through Mary's head. "And when she saw him," the Bible says, "she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this could be." Gabriel understood her puzzlement, however, and hastened to deliver an added portion of the message he had brought. "Fear not, Mary" he said, "for thou has found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus." Moreover, said Gabriel, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." (Let us note, however, that Gabriel did not assert that the kingly status would be immediate, and that the reference to David as the father of Jesus simply suggested that the Davidic lineage had an exalted status in God's plan for Mankind.)
For the young virgin it was a staggering announcement. "How shall this be, seeing that I know not a man?" she inquired, whereupon Gabriel gave a cryptic reply. "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God," he said. Then, knowing that Mary could not have understood a scientific explanation of the function which she would perform, Gabriel resorted to the cover-up words which have since have served as an all-purpose dialectical stop-gap for Christian theology. "With God," he said, "nothing shall be impossible."
Since it was clear to Mary that Gabriel was an angel and that his message had a divine origin, she made no demand for further details. For about 4,000 years God had been designing the lineage which would lead to Mary, to make her the perfect woman whose womb would serve for the gestation of an earthly body for God's Son; thus, we are not surprised that Mary seemed intuitively to understand her role was inevitable. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word," she replied.
Nevertheless, Gabriel supplied Mary with means for quick verification of his message. He told her that Elizabeth was in the sixth month of pregnancy, citing this as another example of God's power. Thus, hastening to visit her cousin, Mary had no sooner stepped within Elizabeth's door than the unborn John the Baptist "leaped" within his mother's womb, and "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit."
How did Elizabeth know she was filled with the Holy Spirit? In this instance the Holy Spirit had not been visible. Hence, the answer is that Elizabeth felt herself mentally and physically in such a state of ecstasy that she comprehended she had been stimulated by an infusion of something which had to be holy to have had so great an effect upon her. Likewise, we now can comprehend that it was because the infant in Elizabeth's womb was also filled with the Holy Spirit that he "leaped" in response to an electronic awareness of the Holy Spirit which nearby was also in Mary's womb.
Now if we reflect that Elizabeth had much earlier received a sufficient infusion of the Holy Spirit to cause her to ovulate, we can understand that some quantities of it had remained in her body and brain, as well as in her unborn child. Hence, Elizabeth's inspired mentality easily comprehended without being told that Mary was also pregnant and that Mary's infant would be more holy than even her own. Thus, "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb," was the immediate salutation of Elizabeth to Mary. Then, making it evident that she even comprehended it would be God's Son to whom the virgin would give birth, Elizabeth asked a rhetorical question which needed no worded answer. "And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" she said.
Ecstatic at such confirmation of her own status, Mary had to resort to lyrical phrases in response. "My soul doth magnify the Lord," she said, "And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my savior. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed."
Numerous witnesses were present when the time came for the naming of Elizabeth's son, and there was much surprise when she said he would be called John. But Zacharias, still mute, wrote on a slate, "His name is John" -- whereupon the elderly father of the child was immediately released from his nine months of muteness.
No effort was made in the Bible to explain how the muteness of Zacharias had been imposed or what caused its termination. Yet, in the light of modern science it is obvious that he had been subjected by Gabriel to a form of hypnosis, one that had been hitched to a delayed release to be triggered by the writing of John's name. Thus, although the muteness of Zacharias has seemed to many Christians to have been a detail too trivial to wonder about, we find it is typical of a great many seemingly small facts which, even of themselves, are corroborative of the larger truths relating to the lives of Jesus and John. In other words, by our modern knowledge of hypnosis we comprehend that the muteness of Zacharias was neither a fictional detail nor the consequence of some "metaphysical" cause.
HOW MARY BECAME JESUS' EARTHLY MOTHER despite her virginity and despite his pre-existence in Heaven can now be explained and corroborated by new logic applied to facts well known in 20th century science.
Because Joseph was not to be the father of Jesus, it was probably at the same time that Mary visited Elizabeth that Gabriel appeared also to Joseph to tell him of the honor which God had conferred on the betrothed young virgin. Matthew's record says the angel appeared to Joseph in a dream; our logic suggests, however, that "trance" would be a more precise term. Thus, we deduce that Joseph was so filled with particles of the Holy Spirit emanating from Gabriel that it seemed to Joseph as though he was disconnected from real life, so that he called his experience a dream. In either case, Gabriel told Joseph that Mary would bring forth a son who should be named Jesus. But neither to Joseph nor to Mary did the angel offer a scientific explanation of how her pregnancy was actually accomplished -- because neither of them could have understood the explanation which modern science can provide today. On the other hand, Joseph's acceptance of a bride already bearing a child of which he was not the father shows why it was important that Joseph -- the same as Mary -- was a perfect product of the genetic lineage which God had been molding ever since Adam. In other words, Joseph had to be capable of being submissive to God's will the same as Mary had been, and the same as had been true of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and all the dozens of others in this central core of the Hebrew people.
To deduce the long-hidden explanation of how Mary's virginal pregnancy was accomplished we must note again that Gabriel resorted to metaphor when he told her she would be "overshadowed" by the Holy Spirit. However, we shall need to reject a too hasty suggestion that a single particle of the Holy Spirit penetrated Mary's body to trigger an ovum into beginning gestative mytosis in the manner of certain laboratory experiments of modern science. That erroneous postulate will be rejected not only because our later logic will explain what actually occurred to cause the earthly body of Jesus to be formed in Mary's womb, but also for three supplementary reasons. First, the rejected theory would need to assume that a 23-chromosome ovum could have caused the construction of 46-chromosome cells. Second, it would be in conflict with the fact asserted by Jesus himself that he had lived in Heaven before he acquired an earthly body. It would mean that his own soul-cell was a wholly earthly product (and from Mary alone): that nothing of himself had come from Heaven. Third, in Mary's female inability to supply a "Y" chromosome, any product of her ovum alone would have been female; in contrast, the earthly body of Jesus was surely male as attested by the fact that he was circumcised in accord with Jewish custom.
The true explanation of how Jesus was born on Earth (i.e., with an earthly body) and of a virgin after he had previously come into existence in Heaven must begin by recalling from our earlier logic certain characteristics of the human soul-cell; how it departs from a body and how it subsequently directs construction of an entirely new body as soon as it is immersed in nutrients such as are normally supplied by a human womb. Also let us recall our conclusion that the human soul-cell does obtain a new body in Heaven by immersion in surface pools of such nutrients after it has traversed the distance from Earth to Heaven.
In turn, let us note again the significant answer given by Jesus when Nicodemus asked if a human soul must enter a womb in Heaven. In his reply, Jesus clearly implied that a soul does not enter a womb in Heaven; nevertheless, he insisted that a man must be "born again" and he went as far as possible under the circumstances to explain what actually happens by saying that such re-birth must be "of water and of the Spirit" -- meaning, as we now understand it, that the soul-cell must enter into one of Heaven's sources of supply of the Holy Spirit which has taken the form of a liquefied nutrient.
Thus, in the light of modern science we deduce the inescapable conclusion that to acquire an earthly body, Jesus simply reversed the direction of the process by which human souls obtain new bodies in Heaven.
There were many reasons that God's Son chose to appear on Earth without arriving in possession of his heavenly body. Yet, there was only one way he could acquire an earthly body; this was by divesting himself of his heavenly body so as to allow his soul-cell to "grow" an earthly body by the same gestative process by which a human soul-cell develops an earthly body. In other words, because Earth no longer had any surface pools such as permit human soul-cells to develop new bodies in Heaven, it was necessary for the earthly body of God's Son to be constructed in the womb of an earthly woman.
We conclude, therefore, that Jesus remained in possession of his heavenly body while traversing most of the distance from Heaven to Earth, using the transportation facilities provided by an Annex of Heaven and being accompanied by Gabriel and other angels. In turn, we deduce that after the Annex came close to Earth, Jesus allowed his soul-cell to abandon his heavenly body, so that his soul-cell was entrusted to the care of Gabriel who would take it into the presence of the virgin who had been chosen to supply the womb-nutrients required for its construction of an earthly body.
Further, we conclude that as soon as the soul-cell of God's Son was brought near to Mary it responded to a force of electronic attraction to enter into her womb, even as human soul-cells are caused to plunge into the pools of nutrients in Heaven. Yet, because the soul-cell of Jesus was much smaller than the period at the end of this sentence, it surely entered Mary without her awareness, even without leaving a mark in penetrating her clothing or flesh. Then, safely embedded, it proceeded to construct an earthly body the same as though it has been an earthly soul-cell formed by union of a sperm and an ovum.
Thus, the earthly body of Jesus was a product neither of a sperm-cell supplied by Joseph nor of an ovum supplied by Mary. In other words, Jesus had no genetic inheritance from either Joseph or Mary. On Earth, Jesus had a human body, the original nutrients for which were supplied by Mary, but his soul-cell was of heavenly origin and his earthly body was whatever his heavenly soul-cell caused it to be.
Why the womb of a virgin? Obviously the honor due to God's own Son required the use of a womb that had been previously reserved for him alone. Thus, it was a matter of no mere coincidence that the prophets had been inspired to prophesy that the Messiah would be born to a virgin. In turn, of course, the phenomenon of Jesus' birth was to be one of the elements of his identification. In other words, his birth was necessarily a fulfillment of what the prophets had foretold.
But why the womb of this particular virgin rather than of some other? Here again the answer is obvious. The woman whose body would provide the earthly matrix for the body of God's Son would need to be (perhaps for scientific reasons as well as for reason of honor) the only perfect woman our species has ever produced.
Accordingly, in that need for the perfect woman we perceive the topmost reason for God's genetic maneuvering among the descendants of Adam for some 4,000 Years until it produced the person of the Virgin Mary.-- even though she would not transmit any genes or chromosomes of the Adam lineage to Jesus. Likewise, it is obvious that Joseph was also a product of the same genetic maneuvering so that --although he also would transmit no genes or chromosomes of the Adam lineage to Jesus -- he would still be an ideal foster-father to provide paternal care and protection.
(Of course, there were additional reasons for God's arranging of the genetics of the Adam lineage. One was the fact that certain of its members, over the 40 centuries prior to the time of Jesus, were needed to perform special God-manipulated functions in the training of the Chosen People on behalf of all Mankind. Another reason was that, during that critical period, this inner group would be a cohesive force for the Hebrews as a whole. A third reason was that more than a little of the genetically-reinforced characteristics of the central core would gradually be diffused among most or all of the Hebrew people, to strengthen them in upholding the responsibilities which God had assigned them.)
Now let us detect an added significance in the fact that Gabriel appeared to Zacharias six months before the same angel announced to Mary that she would give birth to God's Son. This makes it clear that Gabriel had remained on -- or near -- Earth throughout that period. That conclusion, in turn, takes on still more significance when we note there were "hosts" of angels in the sky above Bethlehem on the night when Jesus was born, some fifteen months subsequent to the appearance of Gabriel in Jerusalem's Temple.
Thus, in the same connection we also note that for several days or weeks before the birth of Jesus there had been a mysterious spot of light in the sky, subsequently known as the "Star of Bethlehem." It had first been observed far to the East by three "wise men" (i.e., by theologians and astronomers) who, probably Gentiles and probably Zorastrians, knew that such a "star" signified the fulfillment of the Hebrew prophesies for the birth of a Messiah to rescue Mankind from a then-existing condition of moral and theological darkness. Of course, the three "Magi' could not see the shape or size of the "star" itself; all they could see was the light that came downward from it. Nevertheless, they knew that a true star does not start and stop and change directions. They also knew that meteorites quickly burn out and that comets are also different from what they observed. Thus, we must recognize the same as they did that this "Star of Bethlehem" was surely guided by a living intelligence.
Accordingly, the Magi followed the light until they reached Jerusalem while it preceded them to Bethlehem. Then, on the night that Jesus was born, shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem were awe-struck when a brilliant illumination from the sky shown down upon them, while they heard angelic voices coming also from the sky and singing of "Glory to God."
Thus, from such evidence -- coupled with sundry other logic herein -- we cannot escape concluding that the "Star of Bethlehem" was actually an Annex of Heaven which had brought Jesus to the vicinity of Earth some fifteen months earlier, accompanied by Gabriel and other angels. Moreover, our logic later will deduce that the same Annex was still near Earth some 30 years later; also, we shall later amplify an earlier conclusion that the same or a similar Annex is still, but invisibly, within our own galactic system even today.
Such conclusions do not mean that Jesus came from Heaven in such a space vehicle as our own modern science has contrived -- with metal frame and cabins, tanks of oxygen and fuels, and with speeds limited to about 25,000 miles an hour. To the contrary, as our earlier logic has deduced, we must think of the Star of Bethlehem as a natural "planetoid" orbiting between Earth and Heaven, and being of perhaps one or a hundred miles in diameter. Yet, even of such considerable size, such an Annex of Heaven at an appropriate distance from Earth and maneuvered to avoid a common detection would not have been observed some twenty centuries ago except in such unusual cases as those of the Magi and the Bethlehem shepherds. Likewise, as noted earlier in our study such an Annex would surely be at a vastly greater distance in its nearest approaches to Earth today and would be immune to detection by radio waves, probably by a total absorption of them. Thus, we deduce that Gabriel made at least two bodily round-trips between the Annex and Earth -- propelled by the electronic force of his own body and quite immune to the low temperatures and relative emptiness of Outer Space; that he made the first of these trips to contact Zacharias and the second to visit Mary.
We find further mutual corroboration between our total pattern of logic and the Bible's account of the birth of Jesus even in many of the supplementary Scriptural details. Thus, Joseph and Mary could obtain only a stable as shelter in Bethlehem, and it was in such lowly surroundings that Jesus was born in an earthly body. Accordingly, we perceive there was a divine intention not only to conceal temporarily the fact of Jesus' divinity but also to make the circumstances of his birth so dramatic in their contrast to his actual status that they would be forever remembered. The Magi, however, quite correctly understood the true status of the infant who had been born in the stable; thus, as soon as they could arrive after Jesus had been born, they presented him with gifts that were fit for a king: Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Because the Magi followed the Star first to Jerusalem, it was there that they made a preliminary inquiry: "Where is he that is born the king of the Jews?" Thus, when word reached Herod of that question, he summoned priests to tell him where the prophets had said such a king would be born. They told him it was to be the City of David. Hence, Herod -- with sinister motives -- told the Magi to find and let him know precisely in Bethlehem where he also could find the infant so born.
So it was that when the Magi resumed their journey, they needed no guidance from the Star merely to go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Yet, there it was again seen, moving ahead of them at a speed slow enough to match their own -- thereby making it additionally clear that they were known and observed by someone who literally steered whatever it was that shone in the sky. But when the Magi had found and worshipped Jesus, they were warned by their own mentalities, fortified by the Holy Spirit, not to return to Herod but to return directly to their homeland. To them it was obvious that Herod, as an Idumean ruler of the Jews, would not have good intentions toward a rival claimant of the Jewish throne, especially not toward one whom the prophets had identified with the royal lineage of David.
We do not know precisely how long Joseph, Mary, and Jesus remained in Bethlehem. We are told, however, that at least one visit was made by them to the Temple in Jerusalem where the infant was recognized by a prophet named Simeon. Exalted by the Holy Spirit, Simeon had been mentally "told" he would live until he had seen the expected Messiah. Thus, it is significant that, seeing the infant Jesus, Simeon acknowledged that the promise had been fulfilled. "Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word," he said, "for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." Yet, to Mary he warned that "this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, " and that "a sword shall pierce through thy soul also." These words were, of course, a metaphor which foretold the anguish that Mary would experience in some unspecific future event which would befall the child she had borne.
Not long after that visit to the Temple a more immediate warning was given to Joseph. An angel told him to take Jesus and Mary and flee with them to Egypt. So it was that Joseph did as the angel had instructed, and none too soon. Hardly had the three departed when, at Herod's orders, a company of soldiers killed all male children in Bethlehem who were less than two years old. Thus, in that bloody manner, even the Idumean ruler of the Jews testified that a child had been born in the City of David who had been prophesied to become the Messiah-king.
BECAUSE JESUS' EARTHLY BODY WAS WHOLLY NEW, he had to learn gradually his identity as God's Son.
From the Bible's record we learn that after Herod the Great had died, Joseph with Mary and Jesus returned from Egypt to Nazareth and found it safe to visit Jerusalem for an observance of the Passover. But after Joseph and Mary had begun their homeward journey from Jerusalem they had to turn back to find Jesus, then 12 years old, who had remained behind to engage in discussions in the Temple with some of the principal theologians and philosophers of the Jewish people. Moreover, these elders had found themselves "astonished at his understanding and answers." Then, as Mary gently scolded Jesus, he made a highly significant reply. "How is it that you sought me?" he asked. "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" Thus, because Joseph was only a carpenter who had no business needing discussion in the Temple, it is evident that even by the mid-point of his childhood, Jesus had become aware that his real Father was God.
On the other hand, there were times later in the earthly life of Jesus when he needed reassurance of his divine identity; thus, it is desirable to analyze what limited him to a gradual realizing of his status. We proceed, therefore, by recalling that a human soul-cell going from Earth to Heaven can have no actual memory of a previous existence; instead, our reincarnations must be told of the previous life of their souls. In the case of Jesus on Earth, however, there were none of his associates who could tell him of his earlier life in Heaven; instead, he had to find out by other means and then tell them.
Yet, because the earthly brain of Jesus duplicated the perfection of the brain he had possessed in Heaven, he was gradually able on Earth to figure out what his previous brain had known. Thus, because he rapidly "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and Man," it is not surprising that he was able to amaze the learned men of the Temple even at his earthly age of only 12 years. Even so, he needed reassurances which his Father had arranged to be supplied.
The first major reassurance to Jesus of his divinity came when he was baptized by John, the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Jesus had lived on Earth about 30 years when reports of John's preaching in the Wilderness reached him. By that time it was being said that John was the fulfillment of a prophecy of Elijah of someone who would be found "crying in the Wilderness" to "prepare the way of the Lord." Thus, John had been telling his audiences to repent of sinning, and those who did repent, he baptized. This meant that he subjected them to a symbolic washing with water to indicate that they had chosen to be cleansed of previous sins.
In his preachings, John announced the time was at hand for the arrival of the expected Messiah.--who would "baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Let us perceive, therefore, that in such a linking of the Holy Spirit with "fire," John's words are one of the many Spirit consists of electronic particles which, under some circumstances, display the luminosity and even the warmth characteristically derived from fire. Moreover, John's words disclose that he knew himself to be a herald of the Messiah's arrival. Thus, even if we had no Biblical record of John, logic alone would inform us it was inevitable that such a man would do precisely what he did. Just as it was certain that God would send his Son to Earth to perform a rescue mission, it was likewise certain that a herald would be sent in advance to proclaim the Son's identity, thus also to provide a corroborative occasion for the benefit of the Son himself.
So it was that when Jesus went to John to seek baptism, John suggested it would be more appropriate for himself to be baptized by Jesus. John performed the ceremony, however, when Jesus explained he desired it to "fulfill all righteousness." Thus, all four Gospels took care to record certain highly significant details of this baptismal occasion. As Matthew reports it, "Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightaway out of the water and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from Heaven, saying 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" Mark's Gospel says, "He saw the heavens open, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him. And there came a voice from Heaven, saying, 'Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Luke's Gospel records that "Jesus also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, 'Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.'" John's Gospel says, "I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him."
In those descriptions we note first the voice identification of Jesus as God's Son -- but not as "God the Son." They were words of paternalistic approbation but they did not signify equality between Father and Son. Secondly, we comprehend it makes no difference whether the voice was God's or whether the words were simply relayed by an angel. On the other hand, knowing God's ability to have been present on an Annex of Heaven in the sky overhead, our logic holds this was too important an occasion for him to have chosen not to be present. Moreover, the references to seeing the heavens "open" suggests that the radiance of God shone upon the scene like a shaft of light, so that the radiance itself concealed its actual sources. As for the meaning of the words, it is plain that God's identification of Jesus as his Son was not an announcement of a new status for Jesus but was simply a reassurance to him and to the witnesses of a status that had previously existed.
Next let us note how perfectly there is a mutual corroboration between our logic's independent conclusions concerning the nature of the Holy Spirit and the descriptions related to Jesus' baptism. In the first place, the witnesses comprehended the Holy Spirit was a something which was "of God" but was not itself a person. Secondly, it descended to Earth from somewhere in Outer Space. Third, it was visible, of the size and whiteness of a dove; in other words, it was luminous -- because it consisted of trillions of electronic particles so densely packed together that they glowed in the manner of "cold light." Fourth, it alighted on Jesus; thus, we perceive it actually entered into his body -- so that its particles would increase his physical strength and mental sharpness for the beginning of the ministry that was marked by this occasion.
Whether that cluster of Holy Spirit particles was beamed toward Jesus from a distance of only a few hundred feet or of many miles, we must further deduce it had to have been aimed by God or by other beings of advanced capabilities who were heavenly witnesses of Jesus' baptism. This conclusion, in turn, correlates itself to our earlier finding that there was (and is) an Annex of Heaven capable of moving between Earth and Heaven and which has also served as a place for beings from Heaven to keep our life on Earth under a divinely-arranged surveillance. In this connection, it is therefore significant that this baptismal conferment of the Holy Spirit upon the earthly body of Jesus occurred some thirty years subsequent to the visits of Gabriel to Zacharias and Mary.
There is further corroboration of our modern concept of the Holy Spirit provided by the testimony of its immediate effect on Jesus. Thus, we are told it was because he was "filled with the Holy Spirit" that he decided at once to spend 40 days in a Wilderness for the purpose, as the ancients assumed, of proving himself resistant to a series of evil temptations. We now can perceive, however, that what Jesus really did in the Wilderness was to consider what earthly problems he was about to confront and in what manner he should deal with them. In other words, the temptations he considered were those that are faced by human beings and which he would face if he had been an ordinary human instead of being divine.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE CHRISTIAN CHURCH were formulated and set in motion by Jesus as one immediate consequence of the thinking he did in his stay in the Wilderness.
Indeed, the haste with which Jesus proceeded to activate his ecclesiastical plans on his departure from the Wilderness shows he had become aware his life on Earth was already in a final state and that an organized institution would be needed thereafter to continue God's program for aiding Mankind. Accordingly, Jesus began to lay the foundations of his future Church by choosing the twelve men who would become the (original) Apostles. As identified in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, these twelve were: l) Simon-Peter, 2) Andrew, his brother, 3) James, a son of Zebedee, 4) John, another son of Zebedee, 5) Philip, 6) Bartholomew, 7) Thomas, 8) Matthew, a tax collector, 9) James, a son of Alpheus, l0) Thaddeus, ll) Simon the Canaanite, l2) Judas Iscariot.
The first of the Apostles-to-be with whom Jesus had contact was probably Andrew. Listening to John the Baptist's preaching on a day when Jesus was present, Andrew heard the preacher refer to Jesus as "the lamb of God." Then, as Jesus seemed to be departing after the sermon, Andrew asked him where he lived and was told to "come and see." Thereupon, Andrew summoned his brother Simon, telling him, "We have found the Messiah." To Simon, Jesus said at once, "Thou shalt be called Cephas." This was Greek equivalent of Peter and was the first reference to Simon as being like "a rock."
The immediately following period was one in which Jesus did a great deal of traveling, and it was probably during these trips when he learned that John the Baptist has been imprisoned -- ultimately to be beheaded -- at the order of Herod Antipas. Thus, it was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth who was really the first of the Christian martyrs.
Just two words seem to have sufficed to win Philip's enlistment among the Apostles. "Follow me," said Jesus, and Philip paused only long enough to tell someone named Nathaniel that "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." That reference to Joseph shows the Apostles knew it was significant that Jesus had been born to a husband and wife of the Adam-David lineage. On the other hand, the Apostles never learned how to reconcile the truth of Jesus' virgin birth with their insistence on tracing his lineage to Joseph, or how to reconcile either of these concepts with Jesus' assertion that he had pre-existed in Heaven. From other facts which they observed, however, they had sufficient proof of Jesus' divinity without knowing the scientific answers to any of the related puzzlements.
The Bible gives an impression that Jesus and the growing number of his Apostles spent several weeks in a tour of Galilee while he was preaching and performing healing miracles for many people in many places, and we shall analyze his teachings and miracles in the following chapter. In relation to the present point of our analysis, however, the high point of this travel was when Jesus visited a synagogue at Nazareth. Invited to read aloud from the Scriptures to the congregation, Jesus chose the verses from the Book of Isaiah which said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Then Jesus added words of his own: "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." It was the first time that Jesus himself had openly alluded to his own divinity. It would not be the last time, however, that Jesus would make his divine status quite clear.
WHETHER MARY GAVE BIRTH TO OTHER CHILDREN subsequent to Jesus has been a topic that has troubled some Christians for many centuries; thus, an understanding of his true status cannot be complete without dealing also with hers.
One basis that has led to a question of whether Mary was the mother of children who were "brothers' or "sisters" of Jesus has been a passage in Matthew's Gospel concerning an occasion when Jesus was speaking in the synagogue at Nazareth. At that time, Matthew says, someone in the congregation exclaimed, "Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary; and his brethren James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?" In turn, some theologians have held that the James who presided over the Church in Jerusalem a few years later was a natural brother of Jesus. In contrast, the position of many Christians has been that Mary maintained herself in perpetual virginity; that Jesus was the only child to whom she gave birth.
One of the counter-arguments to the claim that the "brethren" and "sisters" had Mary as their mother has been that those terms were loosely used in ancient times to designate mere cousins or even merely followers. Another counter-argument has been that Joseph was the father of children by a previous marriage.
An entirely new truth to supersede the foregoing claims and counter-claims is produced now, however, by our own logic. We approach this by perceiving that if Mary became the natural mother of children subsequent to the birth of Jesus it would have been because God -- who had been maneuvering the genetics of the lineage of Joseph and Mary ever since the time of Adam -- desired to use certain progeny of this special couple for certain purposes secondary to the earthly purpose of Jesus. On this basis it could be held, for example, that God desired a truly natural son of Joseph and Mary to preside over the later Christian congregation in Jerusalem. Of far greater significance, however, is the new truth produced by our new logic that even if Mary became the mother of children subsequent to the birth of Jesus, they would not have been genetically related to him.
Of course, to many people of some 20 centuries ago who erroneously supposed that Joseph was the natural father of Jesus or that Mary was the natural mother of Jesus, it would have appeared that any other progeny of Joseph and Mary were natural brothers or sisters of Jesus. Nevertheless, we can know by means of the scientific explanations herein that even if Joseph and Mary had any natural progeny these would have had soul-cells formed by union of sperm from Joseph and ova from Mary, and would have been true descendants of the lineage tracing back to Adam and Eve -- in contrast to the soul-cell of Jesus which came neither from Joseph nor Mary but which, instead, had originated in Heaven.
Thus, in the foregoing manner, our logic nullifies one of the most nagging controversies in Christian theological history. In sum, we show it is not of critical importance whether Mary did or did not give birth to children subsequent to Jesus; that regardless of whether she did or did not, there is no effect thereof either on the divinity of Jesus or on the exalted status of Mary herself. On the other hand, to distinguish between the divine status of Jesus and the blessed status of Mary, we need to go further in this phase of our analysis.
We proceed, therefore, by noting again that Mary had to be a perfect woman, and virgin, and of the inner core of Adam's lineage to meet God's requirements for the earthly reincarnation of his Son. Thus, the choosing of the woman who would give earthly birth to Jesus was a divine honoring of Mary herself. Accordingly, our logic leads to a conclusion that Mary -- and Joseph, too -- were not allowed by God to experience earthly death but were taken bodily to Heaven (even as had been the case with Moses and with certain others also.)
In the first place, thanks to modern science, we now can know how it was possible for Mary and Joseph to have been taken bodily from Earth; also, in a later chapter, we shall corroborate the bodily Ascension of Jesus. Hence, in the second place, it would have been unthinkable as well as unnecessary for God or his Son to have failed to spare Mary and Joseph from an earthly death; to leave their earthly bodies exposed to ordinary decomposition or attendant risks. Thirdly, we consider it significant that the Bible makes no mention of an earthly death of either Mary or Joseph; in other words, the same thing that was said of Moses could also be said of them, that "no man knows of their sepulchers even to this day."
Then what of Mary's present status in Heaven? Let us respond to this question without raising a similar inquiry about Joseph -- because it has been her status rather than his that has been a controversial theological topic. Therefore, let us reflect that although Mary was the only perfect woman of our own species and although she provided an earthly womb for the gestation of the earthly body of Jesus, she was not genetically linked either to God or to God's Son. Thus, it is utter folly to think of God, God's Son, and Mary as though she were the Queen of a Royal Family. Theological truth is complicated enough without such creating of unnecessary confusion. On the other hand, because of her earthly perfection and because of the divine purpose she served, the reincarnated Mary in Heaven surely merits a very great degree of human veneration, far more than any other member of our species -- even somewhat more than such as Adam, Moses, the Apostles, and Joseph. Yet, there is only one title of honor that is appropriate for Mary. It is the one she chose herself. "All generation shall call me blessed," she said. Thus, in terms of theological exactitude, she is the Blessed Virgin Mary -- and any other title used for her is misleadingly false.
THIS ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST PHASE OF JESUS' LIFE on Earth would not be complete in the present chapter without now amplifying the correctness of our logic concerning his abandonment of his heavenly body preparatory to an earthly gestation of his soul-cell and concerning the circumstances by which it was brought by Gabriel into Mary's presence.
One aspect of the need for this supplementary analysis is quickly answered. It concerns the difficulty of human mentalities to conceive of a living cell of microscopic size being capable of being transported -- in separation from a bodily totality -- from one place to another. Let us nullify that mental block, therefore, by simply making a single pair of statements. First, let us recall we have already perceived that even a human soul-cell makes a far longer journey to obtain a new body on its arrival in Heaven. Second, let us note that analogous feats of cellular transportation have become common-place even in the terms of modern animal husbandry.
The one other need for this supplementary analysis is a combination matter of three parts. First, it asks for expanded details concerning Jesus' abandonment of his heavenly body so that his soul-cell could be taken into Mary's presence. Second, it asks for expanded details concerning Gabriel's "handling" of that soul-cell in the transportation process. Third, it asks whether there was a great risk involved whereby the soul-cell of Jesus might have been lost or destroyed. Let us respond to this three-part matter, therefore, with a clear and wholly conclusive combination of answers.
Thus, let us remind ourselves that the soul-cell of Jesus was (and is) immortal -- incapable of being destroyed and even incapable of becoming "lost." In other words, if it had been possible for there to have been some divine miscalculation in the arrangements for Jesus to obtain an earthly body, his soul-cell -- instead of entering into Mary or remaining indefinitely in the care of Gabriel -- would simply have returned to Heaven or to an Annex of Heaven to acquire at once a new heavenly body.
Next, let us perceive that although Jesus' heavenly body was also capable of enduring forever in Heaven it could nevertheless be cast-off and be replaced at any time when he might choose to do so. Of course, we presume that the only time he did choose to do so was when he prepared for his temporary use of an earthly body. Moreover, as will be amplified in a later chapter herein, we deduce that after he finished with his earthly body he returned to Heaven and then obtained a new heavenly body. As for the process by which Jesus abandoned his heavenly body, let us perceive that this required him merely to shut it off from an intake of the radiant nutrition characteristic of Heaven -- in effect, to "go to sleep" -- until his soul departed from it. Yet, this was not the same as the death of the body which human beings encounter on Earth. In the first place, Jesus' abandonment of his heavenly body was surely painless. In the second place, it was wholly free from fear because he fully understood that his soul-cell would produce not only a new body on Earth but also still another body on his return to Heaven.
But by what process was Jesus' soul-cell conveyed into Mary's presence? In response, let us initially reiterate that there could be no such thing as a "metaphysical" method. Yet, while God and his Son ever stay necessarily within the laws of nature, they can be even more practical and direct in their procedures than the most advanced of Earth's technicians. Hence, we deduce that as soon as Jesus had divested himself of his heavenly body, the content of the Holy Spirit within his soul-cell provided the force which, instead of propelling it toward Heaven, caused it to enter into a special receptacle -- in Gabriel's possession -- containing added quantities of the Holy Spirit so that this container served for a few hours or a few days as a portable equivalent of the functionalism of a womb. In turn, we deduce that as soon as Gabriel received an acquiescence from Mary, the Holy Spirit content of Jesus' soul-cell caused it to depart from the angel's receptacle and to penetrate to the Virgin's womb. In greater detail, we deduce not only that the Holy Spirit in Jesus' soul-cell responded to a reciprocal force of attraction between itself and other quantities of the Holy Spirit in Mary but also that quite probably Gabriel used a means to create within the receptacle a simultaneous force of repulsion akin to the force which causes the expulsion of a human soul-cell from the brain at the death of an earthly body.
In such manner, Jesus' life on Earth began within Mary's womb at the time of the Annunciation. But it would be some 30 years and nine months later before the main part of his earthly service to Mankind began.
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