Angels And Demons Or How To Resurrect the Gospel

Growing up in these United States I was always told there is a separation between Church and State, so it surprises me when public schools are teaching the Bible as Literature, even in a State as progressive as California.

Not that I am opposed to reading the Bible, since I approve of reading anything and everything, even the small print on canned goods in the supermarket. But to make the Bible available to such a large captive audience that has every right to feel justified in holding divergent views which are not necessarily reflected in what has been touted as the Gospel truth; the Bible can no longer escape careful vetting by prying eyes and inquiring minds.

I was recently reminded that I have put off this task long enough since the signs are everywhere that the Truth of The Primary Word has fallen to inequity, transgression, contradiction, and strife (this also applies to how the Torah and the Quran have been wielded of late—posting on that political hot button is forthcoming).

It is not of my own volition that I write, and if you need to know by what authority I can do so, just ask Michael. Who, by the way, I know reads this blog, and I sent word to you that I apologize for not believing you when you said 'something very bad' was going to happen; but please don’t fault me too much for not taking your warning at face value because what in fact did happen was way worse than you intimated. You must also know that it wasn't fair to me because whenever an Angel casually shows up to talk to a woman, that woman gets to have a baby, but in my case I get to have the mother of all headaches!

You gave me a 3 year heads up, but I could not understand why you were telling me—a woman, this; then when it came to pass, I understood that any reasonable man in my place would have not hesitated to shoot his brains out rather than to go through it and the only reason I did not was because I could not find the gun (there was also the consideration of who would clean up the mess); and I read recently that there is actually a shortage of ammunition in the US, which is why I am finally sitting down to write this despite my strongly held position that this really is not my station--but there is no escaping The signal coming through all channels including the evening news and, of all things, license plates. (And, by the way, thank you for your well wishes when I was ‘ill’).

Since Jesus preached the Gospel there have been several notable state-sponsored book burnings in which valuable information was lost; I suppose the one at the Nicene Convention set the stage for this type of behavior in dealing with difficult subjects not in vogue at the time or that may prove troublesome if power was actually democratized.

Lucky for us, while we cannot recreate every blessed word of his, we can at least lay down a blueprint as to the tone and nature of his language and his mission and leave it to the ‘men in frocks’ to go through their stores of ancient manuscript remnants to provide the rest, exercising the appropriate due diligence and reserve in editing.

All of the past editorializing is one issue I have with teaching the Bible as Literature, given that it is now more of an evolving compendium rather than an integrated text (like one would consider a story by Charles Dickens say). But if you are going to ascribe something to the nature of Jesus or put words in his mouth to be repeated all throughout the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District, let’s at least strive for consistency.

And everything that follows here is given with the caveat not to talk smack about his mother Mary, or any other woman in the Bible (now that budding young men and nubile young women have to parse it out); just because the world is in a state where they don’t honor the wombs that bore them does not give anyone the right to project their shortcomings on Mary.

I use the Quran for reference here to check the integrity of one document with another, simply because it is the one I am familiar with. Use whatever else you are comfortable with provided the document is an authentic original source with a known (historically recognized author) written within the first 600 or so years of Jesus’s mission and can stand up to scrutiny and can prove that Jesus said this or Jesus did that and God is such and such; or tell us for what reason we should take the word of an inspired earthling that conflicts with the Message and somehow deserves to trump what either God, Jesus, or any other Prophet had to say on a given subject up to that point:

Quran (interpretation by Asad, contemporizing by me)

Surah 3
The House of ‘Imran (Jesus’ Family)

(3: 47) …God Creates what He wills; He says for it to ‘Be’ and it is
(3:48) (the Angel said to Mary) And He will impart unto your son revelation, and wisdom, and the Torah, and the Gospel (3:49) and make him an apostle unto the children of Israel.
(And Jesus Said) “I have come to you with a message from your Sustainer. I shall create for you out of clay, a 'bird' (الطِّينِ lit. 'that which flies, or is airborne' pronounced 'al-tayer'; i.e. UFO) and then breathe into it, so that it might come to life by God’s leave; and I shall heal the blind and the leper, and bring the dead back to life by God’s leave; and I shall let you know what you may eat and what you should store up in your houses. In this there is indeed a message for you, if you are believers.”

(3:50) “And to confirm the truth of whatever remains of the Torah, and to make lawful to you some of the things that were forbidden to you. And I have come to you with a message from your Sustainer; remain conscious of God, and pay heed unto me. (3:51) Verily, God is my Sustainer and your Sustainer; so worship Him: this is the straight way”.

(3:52) And when Jesus became aware of their refusal to acknowledge the truth, he asked: “Who will be my helpers in God’s cause?” The white-garbed ones (probably Naphtali from the Galilee area) replied: “We shall be helpers in God’s cause. We believe in God; and bear witness that we have surrendered ourselves to Him.”

(3:55) God said: “Jesus, I shall cause you to die and raise (entrust) you to Me, and rid you of those bent on denying the truth: and I shall place those who follow you above those who are bent on denying the truth, until the Day of Resurrection. In the end, you must all return to Me, and I shall judge between you on that which you differed. “(3:56) “And as for those bent on denying the truth, I shall cause them to suffer severely in this world and in the life to come, and they shall have none to comfort them; (3:57) for those who attain to faith and do good works He will grant their reward in full; for God does not love evildoers.”

(3:59) Truly, in God’s sight, the nature of Jesus is as the nature of Adam, whom He created out of dust and then said to him, ‘Be’—and he is…

(3:78) And indeed there are some who distort the Bible with their tongues, so as to make you think (what they say) is from the Bible, the while it is not; and who say, “This is from God,” the while is it not from God: and in so doing they tell a lie about God, being well aware (that it is a lie). (3:79) It is not conceivable that a human being to whom God had granted revelation, and sound judgment, and prophethood, should then have said to people, ‘Worship me beside God’; but rather (he did exhort them) “Become men of God” by spreading the knowledge of the divine writ, and by your own deep understanding of it.(3:80) And neither did he bid you to take the angels and the prophets for your lords; would he bid you to deny the truth after having surrendered yourselves to God?

Surah 4
Women (Al Nisa)

(4:156) …(We punished them) for the awesome calumny which they utter against Mary (4:157 ) and their boast, “Behold we have slain the Christ Jesus, son of Mary, an apostle of God!” However, they did not slay him, and neither did they crucify him, but it only seemed so to them; and in truth, those who hold conflicting views about it are indeed confused, having no real knowledge in this regard, and following mere conjecture. For, of a certainty, they did not slay him: (4:158) God raised (entrusted) him unto Himself—and God is indeed Almighty, Wise (4:159) Yet there is not one of the followers of earlier revelation who does not, at the moment of his death, grasp the truth about Jesus; and on the Day of Resurrection he shall bear witness to the truth against them.

(4:171) Followers of the Gospel! Do not overstep the bounds in your religious beliefs, and do not say anything about God but the truth. The Christ Jesus, son of Mary, was but God’s Apostle—His promise conveyed to Mary—and a soul created by Him. Believe, in God and His apostles, and do not say ‘a trinity’. Desist (from this assertion) for your own benefit. God is but One God; utterly remote is He, in His glory, from having a son; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth; and none is worthy of trust as God. (4:172) Never did the Christ feel too proud to be God’s servant, nor do the angels who are near to Him…

Surah 5
The Table (Al Ma-ida)

5:46 And We caused Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow in the footsteps of those (earlier prophets), confirming the truth of whatever still remained of the Torah; and We vouchsafed the Gospel to him, wherein there was guidance and light, confirming the truth of whatever there still remained of the Torah, and as a guidance and warning to the God-conscious (5:47 )Let the followers of the Gospel judge in accordance with what God has revealed therein: they who do not judge in the light of what God has bestowed from on high—it is they, they who are the iniquitous!

The following passage is provided as a talking point Regarding reasons for variance in faith and why you shouldn’t convert everybody to follow the Message from 'a single established location/situation' (i.e., always consider the source):

(5:48) …To every one of you We have appointed a (different) law and way of life. And if God had willed it so, He would have surely made you all one single community; but (your variance) is in order to test you by means of what He has entrusted you. Vie, then , with one another in doing good works! All of you will return to God: and then He will make you truly understand all that you differed in.

(5:72) …the Christ said, “O children of Israel! Worship God, who is your Sustainer and my Sustainer.” (5:73) ...they who deny the truth say, “God is the third of a trinity”—seeing that there is no deity whatever save the One God….(5:74) Will they not, then, turn towards God…for God is much forgiving, a dispenser of grace.” (5:75) The Christ, son of Mary, was but an apostle; all apostles had passed away before him; and his mother was one who never deviated from the truth: and they both ate food (like mortals). How clear We make our messages to them: and then how perverted are their minds!

(5:77) "Followers of the Gospel! Do not overstep your bounds in your religious beliefs; and do not follow the errant views of people who have gone astray, and are still straying from the right path."

(5:110) …God will say: ‘Jesus, son of Mary! Remember the blessings which I bestowed onto you and your mother—how I strengthened you with holy inspiration, so that you could speak to men from your cradle, and as a grown man: and how I imparted to you revelation and wisdom, including the Torah and the Gospel; and how by My leave you did create out of clay a 'bird' (الطِّينِ lit. 'that which flies, or is airborne' pronounced 'al-tayer'; i.e. UFO), and breathe into it, so that it came to life, by My leave; and how you did heal the blind and the leper by My leave, and how you did raise the dead by My leave; and how I prevented the children of Israel from harming you when you came to them with all evidence of the truth, and when those bent on denying the truth were saying, ‘This is clearly nothing but deception!’

(5:111) And when I inspired the white-garbed ones “Believe in Me and in My apostle!” They answered: ’We believe; and (You) bear witness that we have surrendered ourselves to You.’ (5:112) And the white-garbed ones said: 'Jesus, Son of Mary! Could your Sustainer send down to us a tables set from heaven?' (Jesus) answered; ‘Be conscious of God, if you are believers!’ (5:113) They said: ‘We desire to partake of it, so that our hearts might be set fully at rest, and that we might know that you have spoken the truth to us, and that we might be of those who bear witness to it!’

(5:114) Jesus, the son of Mary, said: ‘O God, our Sustainer! Send down to us a repast (table set) from heaven; it shall be an ever-recurring feast for us—for the first and the last of us – and a sign from You. And provide us our sustenance, for You are the best provider. (5:115) God answered: ‘Verily, I (always) do send it down to you: and so, if any of you should henceforth deny (this ) truth, on him will I inflict suffering the like of which I have never (yet) inflicted on anyone in the world!”

(5:116 ) And God said: ‘Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say to men, ‘Worship me and my mother as deities beside God’?” [Jesus] answered: “Limitless in Your Glory are You! It would not have been possible for me to say what I had no right to (say)! Had I said this, You would indeed have known it! You know all that is within me, whereas I know not what is in Your Self. Truly, it is You alone who fully knows all the things that are beyond the reach of a created being’s perception.

(5:117) Nothing did I tell them beyond what You did bid me: ‘Worship God, my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer.’ And I bore witness to what they did as long as I dwelt in their midst; but since You have caused me to die, You alone have been their keeper; for You are witness to everything. (5:118) If You cause them to suffer—in truth, they are Your servants; and if You forgive them—truly, You alone are Almighty, Wise!”

Surah 19 Maryam
K H Y 'Ayn Saad كهيعص
(19:30) [Jesus] he said: "Behold, I am a servant of God. He has vouchsafed unto me revelation and made me a prophet, (19:31) and made me blessed wherever I may be; and He has enjoined upon me prayer and charity as long as I live, (19:32) and [has endowed me with] piety towards my mother; and He has not made me haughty or bereft of grace.

(19:33) "Hence, peace was upon me on the day when I was born, and on the day of my death, and on the day when I shall be raised to life [again]!"

(19:34) such was, in the words of truth, Jesus the son of Mary, about whose nature they so deeply disagree. (19:35) It is not conceivable that God should have taken unto Himself a son: limitless is He in His glory! When He wills a thing to be, He but says unto it "Be" -and it is!

(19:36) And [Jesus said]: "Truly, God is my Sustainer as well as your Sustainer; so worship Him: this is the straight way."

(19:37) And yet, the sects are at variance among themselves [about the nature of Jesus] Woe, then, unto all who deny the truth when that awesome Day will appear!

Surah 43
Gold Ornaments (Zukhruf)

(43:59) [Jesus,] he was nothing but a servant whom We had graced, and whom We made an example for the children of Israel .

(43:60) And had We so willed, We could indeed have made you into angels succeeding one another on earth!

(43:61) and he is indeed a sign to know the Last Hour; so, have no doubt about it, but follow Me: this is the straight way.