Original Teachings of Jesus vs Religion

I grew up going to Sunday school in the Catholic Church and I went through all the sacraments but I never felt intuitively that it was for me, even at a young age. This actually led me to become an atheist because I honestly thought there were only two options...to be catholic or atheist and I chose the latter. If I needed to use a label now, I would consider myself spiritual. However, I still do like to read about the history of religion from the perspective of historians, I think it's really interesting.

I was listening to the Alex Ferrari podcast with guest, Neil Douglas Klotz (see link below). Klotz explains that he learned the ancient language of Aramaic which was Jesus's original language. He is now a teacher on the Shift Network that teaches a class about Jesus's original teachings. It's a really fascinating conversation and Alex Ferrari asks a lot of good questions that a curious person naturally wonders in regards to why Christianity may have a different message than the original teachings. I also like how academic and neutral Klotz answers the questions.

Essentially, Klotz explains that the original followers of Jesus focused on the simple teachings of love your neighbor like yourself and that the kingdom of God is within us. He explains how Constantine and the Roman Empire impacted Christianity. Specifically he says, "So whenever empires and religions come together, you know it's not going to be a good thing for humanity" explaining that Constantine's influence misrepresented the original teachings. He explains that there were 100 different gospels after Jesus but only four were included in the Bible. They also discuss where the concept of Hell came from, and that it was a topic that Jesus would not have been familiar with because it came much later in history.

And of course, they talk about the very interesting topics of Jesus's lost years and his relationship with Mary Magdalene. What was Jesus doing between the ages of 12 and 30? Was he in Egypt, Tibet, or India? In regards to Mary Magdalene, both Klotz and Ferrari agree that they believe Jesus had a relationship with Mary Magdalene. Klotz discusses the Gospel of Philip, a Gnostic text that describes Jesus frequently kissing Mary Magdalene, and the disciples shown as jealous and questioning why Jesus loves her more than them.

At the end of the show they discuss reincarnation. Klotz says that there are examples in the bible where reincarnation may have been implied and that the people at that time may have believed in reincarnation as a general consensus.

They end the show with the ever important comment for everyone to intuitively decide what's right for them. As Jesus said, the truth will set you free and the truth is what you find within your intuition or heart.

Below are links to the podcast episode and information about Klotz's class.

Next Level Soul Podcast (note that I use the apple podcast app and can skip through commercials): https://youtu.be/EgMP60pmEaY?si=flB2Q_bTtOn6SqcC

Klotz's website: https://abwoon.org/

Klotz has an online class about Jesus's original teachings on the Shift Network: https://theshiftnetwork.com/course/01NDouglasKlotz02_25/?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=infusionsoft&cookieUUID=76e46925-3196-4f66-b7ad-28da2b6a7d5a&cookieUUID=fbad8cb7-8cd5-4dac-ab07-4f0e936b1ea1&affiliate=26077