J. Craig Woods How the Churches Got It Wrong

Annotation

When the founders of the early Christian Church created the Christian religion, were they able to capture the truth as found in the actual words of Jesus Christ? In looking at the history of our Christian institutions, it becomes evident that His message of love and compassion has been completely overlooked by the Christian leaders who have defined Jesus Christ. This book will be our spiritual journey to find the truth in the message of Jesus Christ. And the true message of Jesus Christ is about peace, hope and love. Sadly, His message has been ignored and distorted by our Christian institutions. The Christ message of love was given to all humanity, and we all possess the capacity to learn this message. His Gospel of love was never intended to be a collection of creeds and doctrines created by a select group of self-appointed clerical middle-men. Their creation of creeds, doctrines and dogma has resulted in division, disputation and bloodshed.This book is my effort to reveal the truth in the message of Christ, as expressed in His actual words. Because of social, political and psychological factors motivating the early Church leaders, they were unable to give us a Christian theology that reflects the real meaning of the unconditional love found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are to experience the truth of Jesus Christ, we must re-visit the actual words of Jesus Christ to apprehend His message of love. By eliminating the erroneous interpretations made by clerical middle-men, we can formulate our own thoughts based on the actual message of Jesus Christ. It is my sincere hope that we will make this search as though we are spiritual archeologists, digging for the truth that has remained buried under two-thousand years of obfuscation.With our new understanding of what Christ was teaching us, it will be our time to know the true meaning of Christianity. We will investigate the message of Christ by utilizing the canonical gospels to explore the words of Jesus Christ. We will also refer to other Christian Gospels that were very popular amongst the early Christians, but, due to the politics of power, these Christian Gospels were excluded from the New Testament Bible Canon. In addition to these sources, we will further explore other ancient texts that were influential within the early Christian communities such as the books found in the Corpus Hermeticum. Our journey will take us to unexpected and exciting insights. We will discover why our Christian institutions are failing. The truth, as expressed in the message of Christ, is to be found in the actual words of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, His truth has been lost in the creation of abstruse creeds and complicated doctrines by Church leaders. In creating their Christian theology, the early orthodox Church leaders were mainly interested in establishing and projecting their authority over all other Christian sects and political institutions.True Christianity is not about judgment and condemnation. Jesus Christ taught us that God is a loving Father and, as such, we have no reasons to fear our Father. It is our responsibility, as individuals, to discover the new reality of Christian love, and it will be our task to practice what we learn. True Christianity is universal kinship. The words of Jesus Christ, as recorded in both canonical and non-canonical sources, will be used as our spiritual road map. In the early years, after the death of Jesus Christ, men created the Christian religion, and their creation has resulted in our modern Christian institutions. Unfortunately, we have inherited churchianity. And true Christianity has yet to be discovered.How the Churches Got It Wrong: Christianity Revealed will be our spiritual journey to find the lost Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our journey back home to our spiritual Garden of Eden. It will be our journey to discover the truth about unconditional love, as expressed by Jesus Christ, and He did not intend for this truth to be hidden by men who are mainly interested in the development of ecclesiastical power. Christ gave us a message of love: love God and love one another. The message of Jesus Christ belongs to all of us, and it is our responsibility to understand His truth. The future is ours and our potential for spiritual development is unlimited. In the Gospels, Jesus Christ is teaching us that we can perform greater deeds than those performed by Him. The choice is ours and our future awaits us.