I am here, Jesus: I have been listening to your conversations regarding various verses in the Old Testament, which show that you are skeptical of the many supernatural events recorded in them, as well as the prophecies of Isaiah dealing with the child who would be called God and I would like to tell you, that the Doctor* and you are correct in the belief that these verses are not faithfully interpreted and that there is much in them that is not the word of God, but of scribes who thought they were doing so. God has never at any time sanctioned despoiling of any country or people conquered or invaded by the Hebrews, as in the case of the Egyptians cited by the Doctor*. And many other cases can be cited in which cruelties were inflicted upon human beings with the apparent approval of God, such as the children who mocked Elisha the prophet, were supposed to have been cured by him and devoured by a bear, for the prophet never had recourse to such curses or revenge on children, and this episode was inserted merely to show the supernatural power which the prophet was supposed to possess. And in the same way Peter never recalled from the dead the person of Tabitha** or Dorcas in Joppa, for none can recall to life a person who has truly died, and so it was that Dorcas was ill, but not dead, and while Peter had at this time healing powers through the Divine Love, yet he did not bring back the woman to life, as recorded in the New Testament, but healed her of her illness. And with respect to Peter's healing in Jerusalem, the verses of which the Doctor* read, Peter never stated that this healing was brought about by me, but by the power of God, and later writers who were interested in exalting me to the godhead simply substituted the words "Jesus Christ" instead of God and understood the substitution to be equivalent to the same thing. And there are many other instances in the Old Testament and the New Testament of supernatural events which never took place, and are merely stories, and one of these was the furnace into which Daniel the prophet and the other Hebrews were supposedly thrown, heated seven times more than was wont, without harming them, an account written to encourage the Jews to have more faith in God because of the supernatural signs He wrought and which the Jews at that time and of my generation were eager to obtain as proof of God's existence and His solicitude for Israel. II I wish to continue with the truths of the New Testament and to speak about my teachings in the Temple in Jerusalem the autumn before my death, for it was the first time that I had the opportunity to present my claims as Messiah before the Chief Priests and Rulers and most learned amongst the Hebrew people in matters pertaining to religion, and I made known that my mission was to proclaim the New Covenant between the Heavenly Father and the people of Israel, and that the Divine Love of the Father was now present and could be obtained by all who might seek it through earnest longing of soul, and that I was the visible sign of its presence, because in my soul there reposed the nature and essence of the Father in the form of the Divine Love, and that my soul was of this nature and essence of the Father and therefore immortal. But to the Hebrew rulers, my claims appeared false because Isaiah had prophesied that no one would know from whence the Messiah would come; whereas, I was well known -- being Jesus of Nazareth, for they deemed a man not to be of his native town, but of the one in which he lived most of his life and was associated with; thus Jerusalem was considered the city of the "Great King David," rather than Bethlehem, where he was born. The New Testament infers that the Hebrew leaders did not know I was born in Bethlehem -- and that therefore Isaiah's prophecy regarding the unknown origin of the Messiah was applicable to me, but the fact is, they not only knew where I was from, but they also knew my father, Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin, and that he too came from Bethlehem. This type of argument, however, showed bad faith and a recourse to technicalities in the determination of the priests not to recognize me as the Messiah, for that, they felt, would have upset their high position as the religious leaders of the nation, which they were unwilling to relinquish; and those technicalities were a subterfuge and manner of debating issues which were dear to their hearts, laying emphasis on hair splitting intellectual distinctions resulting from subtle interpretations of the law foreign to real basic issues and spiritual insight achieved through soul seeking to know the truth. And thus, replying to their minute scriptural objections on their own terms, I proclaimed that it was not true that they knew where I was from, or who my Father was, for, whereas they referred to Joseph as my father, whom they knew well, I referred to God, my Heavenly Father, whom they did not know, nor did they know from whence I came as a Divine Soul, nor how or when I was created. The reference of the Rabbis to my father Joseph were later eliminated from the Gospels, for mention of my earthly parents was a thorn in the side of the later Gospel revisionists who labored zealously to make of me a God-man born of a virgin, and second person of the supposed trinity, which, of course, has no foundation in fact. I further told them that, if they knew the Father, they would also know me, His Son, as being sent from Him, and recognize me as the Messiah, and quoting from Isaiah, as the Hebrew leaders did, I stated that the Father had said; "Incline your ear and come unto me; Hear, and your soul shall live, and I will make a covenant with you even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him as a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people." And this that I said, was known to all who received instruction concerning the Heavenly Father, so that they knew He had appointed a Messiah over them in a descendant of David, hence they should accept me as their Messiah, in as much as I had indeed come to enable their souls to live, by making available to them the gift of immortality in the Father's Divine Love, accompanied by the power of healing and miracles which I performed through the Father, and thus attested to the truth of my mission. And I further informed them, that, if they wished to ascertain the truth of my words, they should try and test my teachings that the Father's Love was now available, and pray for it to the Father in earnest prayer, and see whether, if this was done in sincerity, the Father's Love, conveyed through the Holy Spirit, would burn and glow in the soul, by which sign they would realize His Love was present therein. And I also stated that these teachings were not mine, but those of the Father -- which I had been commanded by Him to proclaim to the children of Israel, and that, having been sent by Him, I could do nothing of my own, but what I saw done unto me by the Father -- that is to say, what power I received of the Father. I did not say I could do what I saw the Father do, or imitate Him, as the Gospel states, for that would give me a power equal to that of the Father, which is blasphemy, for no mortal or spirit will ever, through all eternity, have power equal to that of the Father, and the revision was made many years later in conformity to the false doctrine, elaborated in the early Greek period of Christianity, after my death, of making me co-equal to the Father; and here would like to say that, if such an absurdity were admitted for one moment, it lends itself to its own destruction, and proves its own falsity, for, never having seen the Heavenly Father lay down His life for His sheep, Israel, neither could I, Jesus, have laid down mine, in the sense that it is understood in the New Testament, that my shed blood and sacrifice on the cross gives remission of sins. I quote from the Psalms and from Samuel the prophet on the Davidic covenant, saying, "I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever, I will be his Father, and he shall be my son." Thus if they knew the Father and honored His word, they would know me as well for I proclaimed the eternal salvation of the soul through His Love, which was evidenced in my own soul and witnessed to by His power acting through me. I also testified that while they did not know the Father, I, indeed, knew Him and was sent by Him -- and I stated that God was my witness to the truth of my mission -- a mission which I undertook for His glory, and not my own. Neither did I break the Mosaic law regarding the Sabbath, when I healed and made whole one of the Father's children on that day, for if circumcision was superior to the Sabbath, wherein one member of the body was restored, how much more important than the Sabbath was that act wherein the whole body was restored? Hence I stated that their rejection of me as the Messiah, on the grounds of my having healed on the Sabbath day, was merely a subterfuge to refuse me recognition and to conceal their own violation of the Mosaic law -- making one body member more important than the body itself, and it was they, not I, who was guilty of transgression. I further stated that even as the Father knew and was in me through having bestowed upon me the gift of His Love through response to my soul aspirations and prayer, and this Love was His nature and essence, even so did I know the Father and in the same way was in Him. I never said I was the Good Shepherd, for that referred to the Father, and this statement was inserted many years after my death, in order to raise me up to being equal to God. Instead, I stated that the Father is the Good Shepherd -- the sheepfold being the Kingdom of Heaven, and that I was the door through which the sheep came into the sheepfold and into the presence and knowledge of the Shepherd, or the Porter, who opens the door and is the Father. The Father gives Eternal life to His sheep, and I am the way, the door, by which the sheep may enter the sheepfold of eternal life. In the Psalms it was pointed out that the Good Shepherd, God, would use David, or, better said, a root of David, as a helper in bringing the sheep into the fold. I think I have said enough on this subject and have explained many things that are obscure in the New Testament, and with my blessings upon you and the Doctor, and upon all my disciples who are doing the Father's work, I shall stop and sign myself, Jesus of the Bible and Master of the Celestial Heavens ___________________________________ * Dr Leslie R. Stone ** Tabitha (Female disciple)