Most Christians think there’s only one way to understand Jesus. We’ve been taught that the New Testament gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) provide the only accurate picture of Jesus’ life and teachings. Is that true? If you found out that these gospels presented only one possible way to understand Jesus wouldn’t you be interested in hearing what other early Christians had to say about him?

Early Christians were an extremely diverse group who rarely agreed with each other. Even the New Testament gospels contain serious disagreements. Why is that? Jesus’ closest followers couldn’t read or write. After Jesus died, they passed their stories orally. The stories grew and changed until they were finally written down by more educated converts 25-75 years later by people who didn’t know Jesus.

Hundreds of different gospels circulated among Jesus’ earliest followers. Since no reliable eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings exist, all these early writings are just as valid as Bible gospels. Organized religion did its best to destroy any writings that didn’t agree with the gospels they included in the Bible, but a few ancient texts written by some of Jesus’ earliest “gnostic” followers have resurfaced.

Gnostic comes from the Greek word gnosis, meaning “knowing” or “knowledge.” But gnosis isn’t an intellectual pursuit and Gnosticism is not a religion. Gnosticism is a personal, intuitive, experiential process.  Simply put, it’s the direct experience of God. Jesus’ gnostic followers believed that every person could, and should, experience the Divine. They believed Jesus was a wisdom teacher who had experienced Ultimate Reality and was telling them they could have the same experience.

The gnostic Jesus taught interactively. He used parables that could be understood on many levels. This meant that his followers would have to contemplate his words and search their own heart to find the deepest meaning. In The gnostic Gospel of Thomas Jesus told his followers to stop looking outside themselves for answers because, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you have will save you.” He added, “When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you dwell in poverty, and you are poverty.”

In the gnostic gospels, Jesus teaches “original goodness,” not original sin. He said that we experience misery on earth because we made a mistake in judgment that can be easily corrected. In the gnostic Gospel of Truth Jesus says, “Happy is the man who comes to himself and awakens.” Jesus wanted his followers to “wake up” and realize this universe is not what it appears to be. He said the material universe was an illusion, a nightmare that we can wake up from.

Jesus’ gnostic teachings are supported by the research of quantum physicists. Quantum research agrees that our material world is a virtual reality.  In the gnostic gospels, Jesus used miracles to demonstrate that this world is an illusion. He used his untimely death as proof that the body may perish, but it’s impossible for us to die. Jesus explained that we can “wake up” from our virtual nightmare without fear that God has judged or condemned us.

Jesus conquered the world, and we can too. Our misperceptions about Jesus, God, the universe and our place in it keep us in misery. We can continue to cling to our misperceptions or find out how Jesus’ gnostic teachings can set us free from fear.

Learn how you can benefit from Jesus’ gnostic teachings at http://www.thebeginningoffearlessness.com

Copyright © Lee and Steven Hager