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Garner Ted Armstrong
SPIAKS OUT!
TheReal Jesus-
Would You Recognize Him?
T
oday, Jesus sells almost as well
as sex-so long as He's not the
real Jesus. But the Madison Av–
en ue Jesus-the Hollywood
Jesus-the fictitious Jesus who has
been created in the minds of mil–
lions through a combination of rel i–
gious tradition , misinterpreted
history, false assumptions, hazy no–
tions, weird dreams, alleged vi–
sions, Byzantine and Renaissance
art and literature-is a hot property.
So long as the fake Jesus is a
homosexual, a liar, a plotter, a false
religious leader, a megalomaniac, a
"mushroom," a dissident, a hippie,
or even a monastic dreamer whose
quiet whisperings made the "birds
hush their singing"-Jesus sells!
Judging from the cinematic and
literary quest for the Christ of his–
tory, modern attempts to market the
personage called "Jesus" through
motion pictures, plays, books, arti–
cles , television , and rock operas
manage to avoid any remote resem–
blance to the personality of Jesus
revealed in the Bible.
One modern author proposed
Christ was a fake who conspired
with His disciples to bring about a
sham crucifixion and a staged res–
urrection. His book has been made
into a movie.
And one scholar has propounded
the theory that Christ was an hal–
lucinogenic "mushroom"; that His
religion was a drug cult; that no
such actual personality ever lived.
38
Quo Vadis, Ben Hur, The Robe
and other movies have included a
Jesus, however incidentally, in the
script. Over the past few decades
many moviemakers have seemed
content to dress up actors in appro–
priately tattered, dirty, first-century–
style rags, throwing in sutficient Ro–
man citizens, gladiators, galley
slaves, dancing girls and pontificat–
ing hoary-headed Peters and Pauls
to create an illusion of historJcal ac–
curacy. Millions of moviegoers over
the years have gone away teeling
not only entertained, but also posi–
tively enlightened on ''how it really
must have been."
And now a Western European
film director, Joern Donner of
Stockholm, is filming a motion pic–
ture which depicts a bisexual Jesus
engaged in both heterosexual and
homosexual activities.
But none ot these speculative
imaginings has much to do with the
actual Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
lt 's time you met that Jesus-the
real Jesus-the Jesus Christ of your
Bible.
lt's time you knew the Jesus who
suffered through and overcame the
entire panorama of human tempta–
tions, passions and emotions which
are common to us all ; who enjoyed
good food and drink; who was at-
tracted to beautitul women.
·
lt's time you knew the Christ who
couldcry, shout, laughand sing; who
could enjoy the rough camaraderie
ot men ot His own age in an out-of–
doors camp, yet appreciate the glit–
tering setting of fabulous feasts in the
most palatial of estates.
lt's time you realized that Jesus
was a Jew: that He looked like any
common , average Jew of His day ;
that He was so nondescript He was
frequently overlooked in crowds,
even among people who were
seeking to put Him to death.
lt 's time you were told that Jesus
had a large family which included at
least six brothers and sisters; and
that He owned at least one and
probably two homes of His own;
that He paid taxes.
lt's time you heard that Jesus did
not
come to save the whole world
sorne 2,000 years ago; that He has
not
been trying to save it since; and
that He is
not
trying to save it today.
lt is time you heard that He did not
die of a broken heart; that He was
not crucified on "Good Friday";
that He was not resurrected on
"Easter Sunday" ; that He was not
born on or anywhere near Decem–
ber 25; and that much of what He
taught lies abandoned in the dust of
history.
This Jesus-the
real
Jesus-may
insult you, shock you , please you,
challenge you , inspire you, surprise
you, make you wonder. But He will
never bore you.
There is a crying need for solid
information on the real Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, based on the true writ–
ings ot those who knew Him best–
the eyewitnesses who wrote the
tour Gospel accounts in your New
Testament.
1have written such a book about
Christ-rejecting all spurious and
apocryphal writings, legends, al–
leged " lost books of the Bible," and
special religious tradit ions. lt's titled
The Real Jesus ,
and we're going to
run a series of art icles in this maga–
zine excerpted from that book .
Watch for them beginning in the
December issue-they'll help you
get to know the real Jesus.
" The Real Jesus " is published by
Sheed, Andrews
&
McMeel, Inc. ,
and wi/1 be available in local book–
stores throughout the United States
and Ganada in November.
o
The
PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1977