Not One Jot or Tittle

By Craig Branch

Satan must marshall his forces to attack the living word of God. There is growing evidence that there is a current full scale frontal assault on the Bible. If he can discredit the authority of the Bible, it is easier to sway the minds of the natural man. "And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables" (2 Timothy 4:4).

There have been many books written over the years claiming to be either written, dictated or inspired by Jesus or the "Christ spirit." Also there have been a number of books written by liberal or agnostic "scholars" which purport to peel away the husk of myths surrounding Jesus in the gospels and present the true "historical Jesus."

The following is a representative sampling of these books, all of which either dispute the true Biblical account or reinterpret it to promote New Age Christology.

The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

The author, Levi Dowling, was born in 1844, and raised in the Disciples of Christ. He served as Chaplain in the U.S. Army and later practiced medicine. Dowling claimed to have been caught away into the region of the Akasha (location of the Akashic records) where he received a new "prophecy" which became The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ (pp. 11, 15).

The book purports to describe how the world can be transferred from the astrological Piscean age into the spiritual age of Aquarius. The message includes a new construction of the life and teachings of Christ, but this time it teaches "the spiritual side of the great lessons that Jesus gave to the world [which] may now be comprehended by multitudes of people, for many are coming into an advanced stage of spiritual consciousness" (pp. 10-11). The copyright date is 1907.

The Lost Books of the Bible

Published in 1926, The Lost Books of the Bible is said to contain "all the gospels, epistles, and other pieces now extinct attributed in the first four centuries to Jesus Christ, his apostles, and their companions" (title page).

The volume is full of apocryphal writings rejected as unauthentic or not inspired by the apostles and early Christian church. But the characterization that they were "suppressed by the early Church Fathers who compiled the Bibles" (back cover) demonstrates either ignorance or dishonesty. Rejection by apostolic authority is not suppression.

True Gospel, Revealed Anew by Jesus

This book is allegedly written by Jesus Christ and "received through James Padgett," who copyrighted the volume in 1958. Padgett, an attorney and Methodist Sunday school teacher, became interested in Spiritualism in 1914. From 1914 to his death in 1923 he claimed to receive messages from Jesus and a number of Old Testament figures, apostles, and companions of Jesus Christ. These were collected into four volumes (Encyclopedia of American Religions, section 990).

Life and Teaching of Jesus and Mary

This work was written by A.D.K. Luk and published in 1966. Luk's writings are a variation of the original I AM teaching of occultist Guy Ballard. The contact was supposedly channeled by Mary (Jesus' mother) and by the ascended master Saint Germain, as well as other "Divine Beings" (Encyclopedia of American Religions, section 1146; preface to Life and Teaching, iv.)

A more recent popularization of Saint Germain and the I AM movement teachings is Elizabeth Claire Prophet and the Church Universal and Triumphant.

A Course in Miracles

Channeled by Dr. Helen Schucman, this revelation was first published in 1976. Dr. Schucman claims that the messages comprising the course came to her through "the Voice" by "rapid, inner dictation" (preface). She claims the dictation were supplemented by "highly symbolic dreams and description of the strange images that were coming to me" (Ibid.).

The content of the Course teaches that "a universal theology is impossible, but a universal experience is not only possible but necessary" (p.73). The Course redefines the Biblical message into New Age categories concluding that all paths of spirituality "lead to God in the end" (preface).

The Course has been significantly popularized by best-selling author, Marianne Williamson's commentary on the Course, A Return to Love, and heavily promoted by Oprah Winfrey.

The Gnostic Gospels

By Princeton University religion professor Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels was published in 1979. Pagels teaches (speculates) that the early church suppressed Gnostic gospels (discovered in 1945, translated in 1977) such as the Gospel of Thomas and several others.

These Gnostic accounts give a "remarkably different view of Jesus" and whose teachings "had stark differences from what became accepted as Orthodox Christianity" (Birmingham News, 19 October 1990).

New Teachings for an Awakening Humanity

This prophecy comes from " the Christ" channeled through New Age leader Virginia Essene. It was published in 1986. In it "the Christ" writes that, "These are my teachings for this New Age, this new time of an awakening humanity" (p. 1). The purpose is to create a new corps of love that will inaugurate a Golden Age (p. 2).

The Gospel According to Jesus

Stephen Mitchell published The Gospel According to Jesus in 1991. Writing from his self-professed "Judeo-Zen" background, Mitchell claims to "retain only the authentic sayings and doings of Jesus, and has omitted the passages added by the early church" (book cover). Mitchell justifies his editing on knowledge derived from "The scholarship of the past seventy-five years" (p. 6).

Significant, and revealing, is the endorsement of the Jesus Seminar founder Robert Funk: "In this fascinating book, Jesus the liberator is being liberated at long last by a simplified version of the gospel, by astute commentary and comparison with the Buddha, Lao-tzu, and other sages.... the refreshing breezes that blow across ancient portraits of Jesus long since encrusted with excessive piety and pedantry" (back cover).

Gospel Fictions

Gospel Fictions, by Randell Helms was recently advertised in Time magazine (6 June 1994). The ad states that "According to this provocative book, the four Gospels of the New Testament are fictional narratives produced to serve a theological vision."

Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls

Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls was written by Barbara Thiering and published in 1992. Thiering, basing her report on the Gnostic accounts, presents a Jesus who was not humble but a priest in a strict Jesus sect, married twice and the father of three children.

Most tragic is that a documentary based on her "scholarship" aired on the Discovery channel (New Age Journal, 1994 Sourcebook, pp. 43-44).

Other Gospels

Time magazine recently ran a story titled "Jesus Christ, Plain and Simple" which was sub-captioned, "A trinity of new, scholarly books tries to strip away the traditional Gospel accounts of the man from Nazareth." The article states that "the scholars are coming out of the closet demanding public attention." The article promotes liberal Catholic professor John Crossan's (also a member of the Jesus Seminar) book, Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography; Burton Mack's The Lost Gospel, which is a promotion of the mysterious Q gospel; and The Five Gospels, produced by the Jesus Seminar, incorporating the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas. All of these writers are liberal, higher critics who conclude that "the narrative Gospels have no claim as historical accounts. The Gospels are imaginative creations" (10 January 1994, pp. 38- 39).

Even the U.S. News and World Report ran as its cover story "Who was Jesus? A new look at his words and deeds" (20 November 1993). This story also discusses the liberal speculations on the actual historicity of Jesus, which includes a rejection of the fact of his resurrection.

The impact of the reporters' influence can be seen as the Learning Channel ran a series called "The Life and Times of Jesus" based on his research. The attack on the authority of God's word is actually aimed at the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. The escalation and intensification of this attack is unprecedented and will increase with the growth of the New Age Movement, aided and abetted by the liberal, humanistic media.

Christians must respond with the publishing of sound, biblical scholarship, refuting the irrational, liberal "scholarship" and with personal evangelism. The gospel is still the power of God unto salvation.