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Baruch Ben Zvi
has had an
interesting past. He was President of the Movement for Egalitarian Judaism in
He was the
editor of the Interdisciplinary Bible Scholar and Translator of (Kahan Matzehaf)
Book of the Priest – Prayer book of Beta
He was head
of the Movement Egalitarian Religion in
As the editor
of IBS (International Bible Scholar) he was devoted to a revised Biblical
Scholarship
and also to a
revised chronology/archaeology.
Baruch is a
Chemical Engineer who graduated at
This book is attempting to cover a wide range of topics in a clear
understandable manner. It moves quickly from issue to issue by presenting a
sequence of summaries that each could be expanded to a separate book. Going
Steady, the name of God, family marriage, penal systems, the resuscitation of
Jesus, circumcision, paganism, sex education, revised chronology ... are all
discussed in quick succession where a full book could be required to cover each
of the issues raised.
The book presents many ideals for future challenges. It does not reflect the
present situation as far as the monotheistic institutions are concerned. It is
in no way a critique of laypeople living according to present day religious
standards.
Today all three monotheistic movements are proud of their converts and willing
to convert as many people as possible.
This book suggests that conversion within the monotheistic movements is
not appropriate for egalitarian monotheists. This suggestion is not meant to be
an affront to past converts but a proposed ideal for the future.
Most of the content of this book contains the views of other scholars and
spokesmen.
Moses and Jeremiah rejected circumcision.
All the Torah prophets rejected animal sacrifice.
Fida Hassnain [and others] emphasized Jesus' resuscitation and life in the East.
Peter James and Donovon Courville defined a revised chronology.
The author had some original ideas, such as the unique language of Deuteronomy
and the emphasizing of ‘Going Steady’ as a moral alternative to family marriage.
I hope the reader will be moved by the combined presentation of all these ideas
in one book.
I thank my family and friends who assisted me in this project together with all
the pure monotheists who support the ideals expressed within this book's covers. This book may include many “shocks” but the book is not shocking. What is shocking is the way some monotheistic leaders and transmitters have distorted and denigrated the pure message of Moses, Jesus and Mohammad.
My life has
been devoted to trying to define the nature of monotheistic revelation and then
compare the conclusions of my analysis with the secularism and Eastern
ideologies that we find around us.
My approach
is that of an ancient historian; one who focuses on Biblical criticism,
paganism, Gnosticism, archaeology and ancient chronology. I believe that we need
all these disciplines to cope with the enormous task before us.
The book is
divided into three sections:
We are
looking for the historic Moses, Jesus and Mohammad and how all three are
surrounded by myth and legend. In looking at the original messages of all three
we find they have been contorted and diluted by over enthusiastic and misguided
followers.
The scope of
this analysis is very comprehensive, covering thousands of years and different
cultures. While problems and exceptions exist they are dwarfed by the overall
thrust of the history presented.
The followers
of the monotheistic prophets tried to deceive their generation and future
generations and therefore it is a difficult and sometimes speculative task to
see through their deceptions and find the historical figures. The issues include
altar sacrifice, celibacy, holy marriage, circumcision, miracles, angels and the
devil. Strong clues however exist in texts and traditions to sort out reality
from deception. The reader can judge themselves how balanced my analysis is.
The heart of
the message from the monotheistic prophets involves three major elements:
1.
Pure
monotheism – no angels, demons, magic, occult or revealed miracles.
2.
Religious
romanticism – love and devotion to the one God and
rejecting all respect and worship of pagan and nature gods.
3.
Social love
and loyalty – love and loyalty between husbands and wives. Love and loyalty
between mothers, fathers and their children.
The
distortions by followers of the founding prophets to those founding ideas
involve –
Moses and
Judaism
Two animal
sacrificial cults developed after the death of Moses and added animal sacrifice
and circumcision to the Torah of Moses. The added cultic myths included angels
and miracles allegedly performed by Moses with a magic rod. We find these ideas
expounded in the first four books of the Hebrew Bible.
Jesus and Christianity
Within a
century of the crucifixion of Jesus, he has become a highly spiritualized. He is
seen as the son of God and not just the son of man. He is in contact with angels
and the devil and does many miracles beyond curative achievements that he really
performed. His egalitarian outlook to women was suppressed and a church of
chauvinist males was established. His life of social love and loyalty was
suppressed to help create a celibate church.
Mohammad and Islam
The Koran
includes direct inspiration of God to Mohammad and is free of miracles with only
few references to angels and the devil. These references do not link Mohammad to
these demigods. Hadit, the interpretation by Islamic followers of the Koran,
attribute to Mohammad many revealed miracles and the rite of circumcision.
Angels and the devil play an active role on Earth and in an elaborate heaven
with a vicious fiery hell.
The book will
not only focus on the history of monotheism but also emphasize living issues
today relevant to the original monotheistic challenges. These include:
Social love and loyalty
Sexual
promiscuity amongst teenagers and young adults is the major abomination in the
Western society today, just as surely as adultery is for married couples. Our
new generation will, I hope, understand that there is a moral alternative to
mythical ‘holy marriage’ and that sexuality within the structure of “Going
Steady” is moral and acceptable. By going steady as I explain in the book, I
mean a structure based on love, loyalty, responsibility and equality between the
two parties. The disloyalty of having sex with two partners, of one deceiving
the other or of mutual consent is a deception and a total negation of loyal
love.
Present-day Occult
The
involvement with astrology, numerology and fortune tellers to name a few popular
examples is a total negation of pure monotheism. I feel this involvement should
not be taken lightly but as a personal insult to monotheistic people, by those
who practice occult at the same time.
Revelation
and Challenges
God’s
involvement with human society has included two elements from ancient times to
the present day:
Revelation –
via the founding monotheistic prophets. This revelation focused on love –
submission, loyalty and how to give practical expression to these issues.
Challenges –
God did not reveal to man the facts of science, medicine, technology, penal
codes and ethics.
These are all
challenges for human society to take up before God. The founding prophets did
begin to relate to the challenge of ethical standards in their times.
A major topic
relevant today is the challenge of equality – including:
Egalitarian Monotheism
This book
stresses that the three major monotheistic movements – Judaism, Christianity and
Islam are equal to each other and all three have their developmental problems to
be discussed in this book. Our world abounds with hate and conflict based on one
movement thinking that it has the truth and is superior to the other movements.
If this book can help explain the error in this way of thinking then it is a
worthwhile effort in publishing it.
The Equal Status of Women
Men and women
should have had equal religious status from day one, but the challenge was far
too great for the chauvinistic Middle Eastern society. Jesus could be seen as
treating women as equals, but the developing Christian institutions became
bastions of male supremacy.
Today many
have already accepted the challenge of the equal status of women in their
organizations and can work on the base that exists to spread female equality in
all monotheistic society.
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