This magnificent museum-quality urn, which I literally cradled in my arms all the way from Athens, Greece to Boston, Massachusetts in 1984, shows the side where the Greek god Helios is driving his chariot to fulfill his daily task of raising and lowering the sun. The cross hanging from the vase is a Coptic Cross which I purshased from the Daytona Egyptian Orthodox Coptic Church. CHRISTIANITY AS FAIRYTALE explores intrigues and lost Gospels of Jewish Christian origens and the mysteries of the life and burial of Jesus. Christianity-without-Jesus is the invention of Paul of Tarsus, embelished by psuedo-theologian Emperor Constantine: The Jesus of history had nothing to do with their self-serving fantasies. revdrmazur@aol.com
ABOUT CHRISTIANITY AS FAIRYTALE, published by iUniverse in partnership with Barnes & Noble: 2006, $9.995, 66pp. iU uses advanced publish-on-demand technology (POD) which means a book is not printed until it is ordered. This technique has many advantages. The entire process is accomplished electronically, from computer to computer with an assigned editor managing the process.
CHRISTIANITY AS FAIRYTALE is a controversial and creative presentation of new biblical material important for all Jews and Christians, as well as other readers. It addresses major concerns hidden from the lay public. FAIRYTALE contains thirteen essays.
1. The "Never Existed" Movement 2. The So-Called Canon 3. Fresh Winds of the Jesus Seminar 4. The Nativity Wonders 5. A Precocious Childhood 6. Heavenly Adoption in the River 7. A Dramatic Murder 8. The Life of Parables 9. Jesus Takes a Lover 10. Judas and the Band of Brothers 11. Crucifixion and Resurrection 12. Paul Gives Jesus a Title 13. The Cult of the Christ Finds an Emperor
CHRISTIANITY AS FAIRYTALE may be ordered online from amazon.com or from your favorite bookstore.OR, it may be ordered directly from Ron Mazur, only $8.50 prepaid, 1436 Sunningdale Ln, Ormond Beach, FL 32174. Makes a great gift for clergy and all who want to know more about the origins of Jewish Christianity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ron Mazur was raised in the unfriendly to non-Catholics South Boston, Massachusetts as a Roman Catholic by his Jewish mother. He is an ordained Unitarian minister living in Ormond Beach, Florida. Ron is a graduate of Boston University, the Divinity School of Harvard, and the Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality. Among several careers, Ron was a health educator at the University Health Services of the University of Massachusetts/Amherst for 18 years. He retired from the parish ministry but maintains his affiliation as Community Minister, serving the people of the world with the written word and the Internet. Ron is willing to concede the possibility that Jesus existed (in light of the Talpiot Tombs) but the story of Jesus needs radical revision beyond the "New Testament." In fact, this part of the Bible will have to be completely rewritten, he believes. He is also greatly intrigued by the new gospels being discovered, such as The Gospel of Mary Magdelene, The Gospel of Judas, and the Sayings Gospel of Thomas, which certainly refute orthodoxy. He considers the 30+ Gospels which never made it into the so-called New Testament, the core of Jewish Christian origens. They are neither Jewish nor Christian. They are simply Jewish Christian, or better yet, Jewish Jesus-Believers. Key questions for Ron are: Why were so many Jewish Christian gospels (of which there were more than 30) ignored and by-passed by one Christ Movement (of Paul's)? Where was Jesus for about 19 years, from the age of 5 until he suddenly appeared before his relative, John the Baptizer? Was Jesus raised in Egypt, and was he also a Zealot/Warrior? What was his actual Easter revelation to Mary Magdalene? Was pagan Emperor Constantine the inventor of orthodox Christianity, relying on Paul's "Christ" visions for his own purposes? Has Ron been preaching a nice fairytale for most of his ministry?(oy vey) Ron may be reached at /RevDrMazur@aol.com/.
Ron Mazur
Jesus Tomb Entrance
JERUSALEM BONES All the current controversy over ossuaries is fascinating. "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" was a video on the Discovery Channel on March 6, 07. I will use Mystery of the Jesus Family as the title for a new book I am writing . I watched the video and have a few comments. I liked it very much. It is a masterful job by director, writer, and actor Simcha Jacobovici and his crew. I chuckled as a plumber was called in to clear the debri from a "spirit tube" leading into one tomb. The video takes us step by step along the way to discovering the Tomb after 25 years of being sealed by Israeli authorities who supposedly saw only common names on the ossuaries. Accidently uncovered by a construction crew in 1980, the site was unexplored for 25 years. Of particular note was the attention given to the "James Ossuary" which is now a legal case in the Israeli Court. Jacobovici is an ernest and persuasive, enthusiastic (but calm) proponent of the cause. The panel which discussed the video was truly disappointing. Ted Koppel was antagonistic and fumbling, and two professors did not address the facts of the case but bumbled inanities against it. Jacobovici almost lost his cool. I have purchased the video and the book for continuing study. The book is an exciting detective story and it (and the DVD) may be orderered from the Bookstore Plus page.
Whatever may be the facts of the historical person Jesus, it remains an awesome fact that the fantasy of Jesus Christ governs the minds and political actions of countless Americans today. This is also true of the cult of the Virgin Mary in Latino/a cultures.
It is this mythical Jesus Christ which is the demon of Christianity. This is the JC that inspires wars against all perceived enemies. This is the JC that annoints evil in human kind from birth (original sin). This is the JC that supposedly redeems sin and guilt; the guilt that is created by the church, most especially about sexual morality.
It is time for the deceptions and fabrications of "the church" - Roman and Fundamentalist - to be faced head on by the populace. While people are free to believe whatever they choose to believe, such beliefs are not free to dominate the general culture and manupulate populations with rigid morality and dogma. Jesus of Galilee must be freed from this insanity!
