Jesus a Shape Shifter?

[BATCATGIRL]

I found this website and thought it was interesting to discuss.


Here the article that I post from the website



It was in March last year when reports flooded the headlines about a newly deciphered Egyptian text, dating back almost 1,200 years, which controversially described Jesus as having the ability to change shape. But just as quickly as the story made its way through major news sites around the world, it disappeared and has hardly been mentioned since. Why has the study and research surrounding this text faded into oblivion? Why has there been virtually no scholarly debate on the subject?


Written in the Coptic language, the ancient text written in the name of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, a distinguished theologian who lived during the fourth century, tells part of the crucifixion story of Jesus with apocryphal plot twists, some of which have never been seen before. They have been revealed thanks to a translation carried out by Roelof Van den Broek of Ultrecht University in the Netherlands, and published in the book ‘Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem On the Life and the Passion of Christ: A Coptic Apocryphon’


The ancient text explains why Judas used a kiss, specifically, to betray Jesus. According to the canonical bible, the apostle Judas betrays Jesus in exchange for money by using a kiss to identify him leading to Jesus' arrest. This apocryphal tale explains that the reason Judas used a kiss, specifically, is because Jesus had the ability to change shape.


"Then the Jews said to Judas: How shall we arrest him [Jesus], for he does not have a single shape but his appearance changes. Sometimes he is ruddy, sometimes he is white, sometimes he is red, sometimes he is wheat coloured, sometimes he is pallid like ascetics, sometimes he is a youth, sometimes an old man ... "

This leads Judas to suggest using a kiss as a means to identify him. If Judas had given the arresters a description of Jesus he could have changed shape. By kissing Jesus Judas tells the people exactly who he is.
This understanding of Judas' kiss goes way back. According to Van den Broek, the explanation of Judas’ kiss is first found in Origen, a theologian who lived 185-254 AD. In his work, Contra Celsum, the ancient writer, stated that "to those who saw him [Jesus] he did not appear alike to all." Van den Broek is careful to note that he is not suggesting that Jesus was in fact shape changing but only that some people in early Christian times may have thought he was.

The text is one of fifty-five Coptic manuscripts that were found in 1910 by villagers digging for fertilizer at the site of the destroyed Monastery of Archangel Michael of the Desert near Al Hamuli in Egypt. Apparently, during the tenth century, monks had buried the monastery's manuscripts in a stone vat for safekeeping. The monastery ceased operations around the early 10th century, and the text was rediscovered in the spring of 1910. In December 1911, it was purchased, along with other texts, by American financier J.P. Morgan. His collections, and the text described, are now housed in the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. While headlines at the time of the announcement were quite sensationalist and described the text as containing Christianity-shattering information, the publishing scholar never claimed anything of the sort. It is also clear that the text is not a hoax but a genuine item published by a respected scholar by a notable academic press (E. J. Brill). So why hasn’t such a fascinating text led to further research, interpretations, or discussion among scholars?

- See more at: http://www.ancient-origins.net/unexplained-phenomena/ancient-text-describes-jesus-shape-shifter-001361?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AncientOrigins+%28Ancient+Origins%29#sthash.0B97orwb.dpuf


Please be nice to one another. No swearing or being mean or rude.
Respect one another beliefs. Thank you.

[Six Billion of Spades]

In regard to the truth, it's just as relevant as claiming that the prophet Muhammad was a ***** because he married Aisha Siddiqa.

As far as personal opinion... that is, no doubt, the most interesting theory on Jesus I've ever encountered. The alchemical implications are simply orgasmic.

[stealthmongoose]

This story requires further verification and testing. The document in question was never thoroughly analyzed or verified as a historical document. The notoriety of the person who attempted to publish the document is irrelevant, as the methods of verification were never explained.

To put it bluntly; Jesus was a popular myth during the Rome/Jerusalem conflict, and a character which was written about much in the same way Robin Hood was.

Without linking this document to a real person who actually impacted the world beyond forgeries and exaggerated events, this document is just as helpful as the Shroud of Turin in determining who Jesus was, if he ever existed.

EDIT: In fact, in the brilliant livescience article that your article references without mentioning all of the details, Van De Broek has this to say about his own work...

Who believed it?

Van den Broek writes in the email that "in Egypt, the Bible had already become canonized in the fourth/fifth century, but apocryphal stories and books remained popular among the Egyptian Christians, especially among monks."

Whereas the people of the monastery would have believed the newly translated text, "in particular the more simple monks," he's not convinced that the writer of the text believed everything he was writing down, van den Broek said.

"I find it difficult to believe that he really did, but some details, for instance the meal with Jesus, he may have believed to have really happened," van den Broek writes. "The people of that time, even if they were well-educated, did not have a critical historical attitude. Miracles were quite possible, and why should an old story not be true?"

I'm not sure if this fable was meant to be a theory on the identity of the Jesus Myth that we should take seriously, but so far it seems to be fanfic.