What If the Bible Were an Instruction Book?

Christianity as we know it today is a mixture of religions. At the heart of all of this controversy is Jesus. Jesus was born 1 A.D. History tells us that paganism was the predominant religion of the era. Considering these two facts it stands to reason Jesus was familiar with Paganism. (just a funny little side note/thought- All the little catch phrases that have been created to remind the public of Jesus are misconstrued. Some examples: "Jesus is the reason for the season" or "Put the 'Christ' back into 'Christ'mas" , for Christmas holidays which were actually incorporated around Pagan winter solstice festivals. Also, if God is God then why do so many religions base themselves on Christianity, or Jesus Christ? Jesus was only half divine. He was not God.)

Taking this a step further, imagine that Jesus may have practiced Paganism. This is essential because we are about to enter more controversial territory. Warning-this article is about to become blasphemous.

Just a mental experiment, let us toy with the idea that Jesus could be considered a magician. Not a "rabbit out of the hat" magician but a true magus. Wait, think about it. At Jesus' birth, three "wise men" (a euphemism for magi) had traveled thousands of miles to find him beneath a star. If this story had been printed in any other book besides the Bible it would be shelved in Children's Fiction-Fairy Tales.

What proof is there to support this hypothesis? Well, consider the writings of the Bible as a story, a book to be read and pondered. The Bible itself states that Jesus healed the sick. In Paganism, healers generally were magic or known as witches/wise people. In fact, the burning times or the witch-hunt era was filled with stories about mid-wives and folk healers being burned at the stake. Apparently, what is good for Jesus is not good for women, according to Christians.

In Shaman tradition the Shaman, also known as the medicine man/woman, magician, witch/wizard just to use some modern terms, had to complete an initiation process or rite of passage that explicitly details death followed by rebirth as a means of acquiring new power and demonstrating the knowledge learned thus far. Jesus was a traveler, a wanderer (which incidentally can also be attributed to the magical learning process) and may have encountered many different traditions through his quest to attain his personal legend. Yet, what Jesus preached was love, tolerance and forgiveness. Could these be creeds learned during his quest? Would Jesus have approved of he witch burnings?

Let us review. In the first article, Jesus himself was the controversy. Emperor Constantine, as a pagan, convened the Council of Nicea to decide the fate of two world religions, Paganism and Christianity. In article two, Christianity wins the name games while incorporating Pagan traditions. This article briefly examines an alternate reality, namely that Jesus was a magician.

In conclusion, my theory is that the Bible was more of an Instruction Book on becoming more God-like. The Bible may indeed be the "be all" of textbooks for humanity. The Bible may have been intended to act as a means of the preserving knowledge of the old ways, of lessons hard learned, and of a hope for a better (more ethical /moral) generations in the hopes that not all of the old ways would be lost by the fervor of religious persecution but allowing for growth. Maybe the intention of Jesus and the followers that created the Bible was to allow religion to be something new something new and different without it being deadly.

Illes, Judika, The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, published in 2005 by Harper Element

Murphy, S.K. original ideas published in 2007 by Associated Content

Smith, Morton, Jesus the Magician, published in 1978 by Harper and Row