"PLATO AND THE CREATION OF THE HEBREW BIBLE" - RUSSEL GMERKEN - MUST READ
What is being shared herein is reason, known facts to
date, and openly evaluating if we have good reason to believe anything in our bible is as true as we've all been told to believe.
My study into this started near 2000 and hundreds of viewpoints and evidences have been studied to see if anything makes good
sense - or not. Initially my study was to the teachings of Jesus in our New Testament with the principle of the Instructions
of God about who He said to hear versus who He said to ignore in Deuteronomy 4, 12, 13, 15, and 18. The methods make
good common sense, all I did was to take them and put them into action.
The
whole NT was read for over 50 years, and as third generation preachers son, and having gone to David Lipscomb in Nashville
as a Bible Major, I've always had interest in religions and belonged to the Church of Christ most of my life, including experience
teaching adult bible classes - one on continueing revelation - as that related to many other churches starting, such as Mormons,
Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh Day Adventists. Our church believed they were the one true church because they held
the value to simply be "New Testament Christians" who followed what the Bible says, instead of the multitude of
denominations that were based upon the Creeds and Doctrines developed by councils of men through the years. What was
obviously missed therein was ensuring what we consider "Scripture" needed to be thoroughly investigated. Unfortunate
for Bible believers, various branches of sciences into antiquity have proven much, if not all, of our "Bible" is
not as it had been presented to us and out fathers. We now know what we have in the Torah was not written or known until
near 270 - 170 BC and was not initiated by "Moses", just as what we were told of the Exodus is fiction and lore.
It has also been observed that much from the books of Moses to Nehemiah and Daniel are also not as told - it's largely self-aggrandizing
propoganda for Israel and Judah. False prophecy can also be observed in Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Daniel - not to mention
the christian new testament. Were they altered later? - or were they made up after the fact and actually be fiction
of the Rabbe and Pharisees and Rome?
My
initial focus was to see if what I'd been taught was really true - was I taught what Jesus taught, or not? It seemed
reasonable to make a listing of Jesus teachings - the imperatives he said his disciples are to do, as this was the concluding
charge at the end of Matthew, to make disciples of him and teach them whatsoever he had first commanded or taught them to
do - or to not do - the imperative teachings of Jesus. I will invite everyone on the face of the earth to repeat what
I did to see if what I'm saying is so - or not. This is a scientific experiment that should be verifiable by anyone
with the dogged interest to do it - to see if what we've been taught is so - or not. Starting with Matthew, it had over
200 imperitive teachings. Progressing into Mark, the number was much less. Luke was close to Matthew, but was
lacking the completeness therein. John perhaps had the least, but it also had the most about the need to do as he taught
- a curious book, considering it lacked the founding sermon on the mount, and it testified against the other gospels from
start to finish. This is most easily discerned by review of historical details being wildly different from Matthew.
Then I considered that Luke and Mark also had considerable contradictions when compared to Matthew. How could this be
so if they were all true as we've been told to believe?
What I brought to my study is a heafty
dose of common sense, combined with the skills learned from working for the Department of Transportation in California for
40 years. Details matter. Standards matter. Specifications matter. Guiding Permits matter if a project required
specific Permits to be authorized to do the work - such as Permits from the Air or Water Quality Boards, Fish and Game, or
provisions involving work that required Native American inspectors present during excavation work in the Sierra Foothills
or Mountains. You would not believe how many things are involved in a large project to design and construct a highway
re alignment through environmentally sensitive areas. It was fascinating work in a beautiful area that I much enjoyed,
and I suspect you would have enjoyed having Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Death Valley, Santa Cruz, and Santa Barbara as your work
zone. It was the greatest experience of my life to work with so many people, as well as being privilaged to work for
the Senior Construction Engineer who oversaw most of the Senior and Civil Engineers doing the work via the Contractors who
won the bidding process. Some jobs I was working with also included the San Fransisco - Oakland Bay Bridge. Multiple
year projects with some valued over a Billion dollars. It was a huge responsibility to have worked within. It
involved a lot of planning and paying attention to details and specifications of required elements that were considered "key
indicators" for how well Construction staff were doing their jobs. When other Agencies complained about a problem,
I was the one who had to investigate matters and see if there was a problem, and how we might resolve it. Taking on
my study was a great opportunity to put all those skills learned to the task of seeing if what I had been taught was so -
or not. This study exposed things that involve everyone - every church, not just the church of Christ. Perhaps
the greatest curiosity to me was the morality and work ethic of many who weren't "Christian" was much better than
was observed from members of my own church. How is this so?
In Matthew 24 Jesus warned of the end times and how wickedness will grow upon the earth, as he encouraged
his disciples to see this is what he said would happen, and that we not be afraid and that we give special heed that our love
does not grow cold. Jesus taught love for God and our fellow mankind. I would also like to interject a sermon
once heard - I recall every single word of it - as I'm confident you will also be able to memorize this one: "Love is
a verb." It was at a small church near Stockton, Ca, and the preacher was tiring of how people were treating others.
Most focus on love as a feeling, but it's actualy a verb - an action. Love is known and observed by our actions, not
our feelings. I also looked into the "Law" Standards, and in 2021 a purported ancient copy from the days of
Ezekiel was published - and it pretty much matches this viewpoint - and shows that the Law defines love - what it will do,
and what it will not do! 70 years of study have led me to conclude at this time that the teachings of Jesus have
drawn so much praise and honor amongst mankind because he was 'putting legs' to the words of God. .
The core reason about Jesus is people
view the Sermon on the Mount to be remarkable teaching, both then and today - throughout history. Why does Judaism hate Jesus
more today than back then? Why do they believe God will not forgive them until they rid the face of the earth of Christians?
Me thinks they protesteth too much if what Matthew said was invented by them or Rome. Where did Jesus get his teachings?
THAT is the proper question. And, are his teachings valuable to this day? Forget all the crap and fakery of of the rites,
rituals, and traditions of Judaism and Christianity - observe his teachings to do them - and see if you are blessed, or not.
Jesus made sense to me, at least in Matthew, with a few exceptions. The issues
predate Jesus. There is no evidence to support the Torah books of Moses to be historical or largely true - zero firm evidence.
There are massive contradictions and problems with the accounts, doctrines, rites, rituals, and no evidence there ever was
an Abraham, Moses, 12 Tribes, Exodus, Conquest of Canaan, or even a King David or Solomon!
The majority of mankind has a built in sense of conscience and knowing good from
evil. Belief that God chose one race above all others, and this race to have turned the mythos of others into their pronounced
historical 'truth' is absolutely evil, as we can all observe what has been going in since 1948 in Israel and Palestine.