Teachings of Jesus are identical with Vedic beliefs – Part I

Vishnu Makhijani

Veteran bureaucrat Harsh Mahaan Cairae is an avid reader and a student of philosophy and religion. He has studied the scriptures of several religions, of which the Vedas have been of special interest. He discovered that the teachings of Jesus Christ are identical with Vedic beliefs.

In his book 'Discovering Jesus' (Rupa), he proceeds to look for the source of these beliefs reaching Jesus and finds that these were also the original beliefs of the Jews.

"Jesus did not acquire them from an external source. This raises a bigger question of how the beliefs of the Jews were identical with the Vedic beliefs. Were they in any way related to the Aryans? I have relied on a number of literary sources including my earlier book, 'An Aryan Journey' which was a research based on Vedic, Zoroastrian, Greek and Roman literary sources, and concluded that the Jews were Aryans and were of the group which called itself Devs as distinct from Asurs," Cairae said in an interview.

"I, however, concede that this has emerged from literary sources alone and such a big question cannot be answered finally on the basis of one source alone. Other sources of information, particularly genetics need to come in to take the issue to its logical conclusion," he added.

"My first book was based primarily on a research of Vedic and Zoroastrian scriptures in which I had traced the migration route of the Indo-Aryans. In this I had come across a person in Iran, named Mani, who is believed to have been the founder of Manichaeism, a religion very widely practiced till the spread of Christianity. My findings led me to believe that this was the Vedic religion which had acquired a new name as Mani had introduced some reforms. Mani used to claim that he was the Apostle of Jesus Christ. The Manichaens claimed they represented true Christianity, while the Church considered them to be heretics. Heretics, but not followers of some other religion. This led me to believe that there is something wrong in understanding Jesus. Hence the study and the writing (of this book)," Cairae elaborated.

Jesus had twelve main disciples, who were called apostles. One of them, Judas Iscariot, had betrayed him which led to the arrest and crucifixion of Christ. Judas is reported to have committed suicide thereafter. The remaining apostles, by common consent, nominated another disciple to be an apostle to make the number twelve again. Paul was not one of these. He had never met Jesus in his life, but claimed that he received his teachings in a vision and proclaimed himself an apostle. Christianity today is based on the beliefs and teachings laid down by Paul.

Paul, and later the Pauline Church, created an impression that he and the other apostles preached together and the same things. With this it has got established that what Paul has laid down is what was preached by Jesus.

"'Discovering Jesus' brings out evidence to show that Paul and the real apostles were not preaching together or the same things. Paul fought a running battle with them all his life and was not acknowledged as an apostle by their followers. The belief laid down by Paul is that the world would come to an end and there would be a Day of Judgment. (At places he has said that this could come within the lifetime of the people he was addressing.) When it comes, the dead will rise from their graves with new bodies, while the bodies of the living will be transformed. All will be judged for their deeds, the sinners would be sent to suffer in hell till eternity, while the virtuous will go to heaven to enjoy, also till eternity.

"On behalf of God, Jesus would be delivering this judgement. A very important part of this was that whoever believes that Jesus was the Son of God and that he rose from the dead would go to heaven. Thus, faith alone, in his doctrine, was sufficient. The book asserts that Jesus and his apostles did not have any such belief and did not preach this. They believed in the transmigration of souls in which a person was born in a position on the basis of his deeds in the previous life. The soul could go out of the cycle of rebirth and attain salvation by realizing the true nature of the self. The teachings of Jesus were thus diametrically opposite to what Christians believe today and as were laid down by Paul."

In showing that Paul was fighting with the apostles and not preaching with them, the book first brings out evidence from the Bible itself. The letters of Paul, that are a part of the New Testament and are called Epistles, show the discord. Very important are the quotes from the Epistle to the Hebrews. The book brings out that this is addressed by Paul to the apostles. In this Paul has listed out the doctrinal differences that he had with them and has requested them to leave them aside for the present for a discussion in the future and for the time being discontinue animal sacrifice. The doctrinal differences he records include the debate between deeds and faith; doctrine of baptism; laying on of hand; resurrection of the dead; and eternal judgement.

These are fundamental beliefs of Christianity today, which Paul has himself recorded, were issues on which the apostles did not agree with him. For animal sacrifice, which Paul was requesting to be stopped immediately, the book brings out evidence to show that this was practiced in the Church.

Apart from what emerges from the Bible, the book brings out evidence from the writings of the Christian Fathers of the early centuries to show that the followers of the apostles did not acknowledge Paul as an apostle and did not believe in what he preached. James, an apostle and the brother of Jesus, had become the bishop of Jerusalem and the head of the Church of the apostles after the death of Jesus. No writings of anyone from this side have survived. All that has come down to us is from Pauline traditions, except a set of gnostic literature that was found in the last century, carefully packed and buried in Egypt and goes by the name of the Nag Hammadi Library.

The care with which it was found packed shows that there was a danger of it being destroyed by the opponents, which the keepers were in no position to resist.

(To be concluded)