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FOREWORD: The Super Gospel is many different Christian
sources compiled into a single, readable text. Although many acknowledge
and accept the canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, people are becoming increasingly aware of other gospels
that once circulated throughout the greater Christian world. Many
different forms of Christianity arose within it, and thus there
grew to be divisions. Each group held its own version of Christianity
as apostolic and genuine, and other groups as heretical and inauthentic.
As time progressed, power struggles within and among these various
groups began to obscure the fact that the writings themselves
all spoke of the same Jesus.
Differences within and among these groups were emphasized--and
sometimes manufactured--in order to generate hatred and mistrust
and divisions between them. These feelings thus began to dominate
our Christian thinking, even to the point where Christians were
branding other Christians as heretics and killing them. The New
Testament speaks of this in many places; "The love of the many shall
wax cold," and "Friend shall turn against friend." Did the Church
quench the Holy Spirit by these actions? Theology at best is a
contrivance of man, and as such is inherently flawed, and is therefore
not able to act as the true light. "The true light was he which lights up
every man that comes into the world." What could possibly act as an antidote to
these traditions? What could possibly lift this curse of intellectualism
and speculation and doubt from our shoulders? What could possibly
unite us after all of these years? What if the unthinkable were
to happen? What if there was more than what we were told? What if we
were to discover that these works had all been authored by the same
God? If we would only take the time to align the
documents themselves and set aside all preconceived notions of
what they are supposed to mean in terms of theology and scholarship,
carefully arranging the words as to subject matter, chronology, and
affinity, and placing them where they most logically belong, we could
arrive at a higher understanding of the Logos. We could then
put these words to the test, comparing "Scriptural things to Scriptural
things" to "try the spirits to see if they are from God."
Discover a fresh, new view of the most central figure in human history by delving into these
ancient and mysterious sources. Step into a larger Christian world full of unexpected
twists and turns. See what happens when the lines are blurred and the hidden connections
are revealed in this most astonishing of documents. Boldly break the rules of theology and scholarship.
Transcend the barriers of conventional thought and grasp what lies beyond it. God is speaking
to us by His Eternal Word, through which these things can now be known.
INFANCY 1
INTRODUCTION (Luke 1:1 4; John 1:1 18)
Since it is clear that many have painstakingly tried to stitch together a narrative regarding
matters which have been proven to our own satisfaction, even as did those who from the
very beginning were eyewitnesses and humble administrators of the understanding of the
word; it seemed right that I should follow suit; accurately ordering and writing to you
from a loftier perspective, most noble lover of God, that you also might come to see the
certainty in the things that you were taught. In the first place, there was the Word, and
this Word had to do with God, and this Word was God. This was the very basis for drawing
near to God. Everything was brought into being because of it, and apart from it not so much
as one thing ever came to pass. For within it there was life, and that light was enlightenment
for all of mankind, and that light continues to shine through all of the darkness, without
that darkness ever perceiving it. God sent out a man whose name was John. He
came to attest to that light, that all might come to believe in it through him. Not that
he was that light, but he did come as a witness to that light. The true light was he who illumines
all men by his coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into
being because of him, yet the world never did recognize him. He joined in among his
own, but they refused to accept him. To as many as trusted in his good name, however,
and did come to accept him, he gave the chance to become God’s own children; brought forth
through neither bloodline, nor the will of the flesh, nor the slightest effort on the
part of men, but the agency of God instead. The Word put on flesh and lived among us,
and we recognized his preeminence as God’s only Son, brimming with spiritual life, being
the embodiment of truth. John has aptly testified of him, and resoundingly proclaimed, "This
was the same one who appeared before me bringing word that through me he would rise to prominence."
And from this man, or rather him in the fullest sense, each of us also receives this gift:
true spiritual experience as opposed to mere spiritual intercession, because through Moses
came the law, whereas through Jesus, the Christ, came the gift of spiritual fulfillment, along
with the embodiment of truth. No one ever saw God clearly before; the only begotten
son is revealing him now from the heart of the Father.
MARY’S PARENTS (BMary 1:1 6; PsMt 1,2; PEv 1:1,2)
Jerusalem {Here begins The Book of the Birth of the
Blessed Mary and the Childhood of our Savior; which was written in Hebrew by the Most Reverend
Apostle Matthew.} The holy and majestic *** Mary was born
in the city of Nazareth, descended from David’s royal bloodline, and received her instruction
in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem. Her father’s name was Joachim and his family was from Galilee
and the city of Nazareth. Her mother’s name was Anna, and her family was from Bethlehem.
They lived plainly and honestly before God; piously and blamelessly in the sight of men.
According to The Chronicles of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, Joachim, a wealthy man of
Judah’s line, was in Jerusalem at this time. He shepherded his own sheep, and loved the
Lord wholeheartedly and with all integrity. His entire concern was for the well-being
of his herds; and from the food that they produced, he fed every God-fearing person,
honoring God by offering a twofold charity to everyone who served Him, and who worked
at teaching. He brought all of his offerings before the Lord, saying, "What I bring as
a sacrifice for my own sins will be dedicated to the Lord, that He might be appeased with
me. What is over and above that will be for the people to use." So his entire income--his
lambs, his sheep, his wool, and everything else that he owned--was split three ways:
one part was devoted to orphans, widows, foreigners and the needy; another to the temple, its
officials, and those who worship God; and the third part he reserved for his own needs
and those of his entire family. He practiced this level of generosity from the age of fifteen
years, and all the while God compounded his flocks and his wealth, such that there was
no one else like him in all of Israel. When he was twenty, he married Anna, the daughter
of Issachar, who shared his lineage from David. They practiced this decent way of living for
about twenty years; being approved by God and respected by men, yet she bore him neither
sons nor daughters. The Great Day of the Lord was approaching,
and the people of Israel were bringing their oblations. Now during the festal days, Joachim
was gathering his gifts before the Lord in the company of some other people who were
offering their incense up. And this priest named Reuben rose to his feet, walked over
to Joachim and said, "It is unlawful for you to stand here alongside these others and present
your offerings ahead of those who are sacrificing to God, seeing that you have fathered no children
in Israel." (But they had solemnly pledged that if God should bless them with a child,
they would consecrate it to the service of the Lord; which was why they went to the Lord’s
temple during every feast of the year.) JOACHIM’S CENSURE
(BMary 1:7 1:12; PEv 1:3 7) Jerusalem; The Hill Country
Now when the Dedication Feast was approaching during the high priesthood of Issachar, Joachim
and some others of his tribe traveled up to Jerusalem. When he saw Joachim and his companions
bringing their offerings, he snubbed both him and his gifts, demanding, "Why would a
childless person like you be so presumptuous as to come and stand here alongside those
who are not? God will never accept any offerings from you," he added. "He hasn’t even deemed
you worthy to have children! Remember that the Scripture reads, ‘Accursed are all who
fail to father a son in Israel.’" He said, moreover, "You ought first to free yourself
from that curse by fathering a child, and only then should you bring your offerings
into the presence of the Lord." Taken aback by such a shameful and public
censure, Joachim ran away from the Lord’s temple in tears. He felt discouraged and said
to himself, "I will check the register to see if I am indeed the only one in Israel
who has not brought up any children." So he consulted the archives of the twelve tribes
and learned that all of the upright in Israel had indeed raised up children. Then he recalled
that even as his days were drawing to a close, God blessed the patriarch Abraham with his
son Isaac. Now since Joachim was so depressed, he did not wish to go back home and face his
wife and neighbors who, after all, had been there and had heard all that the high priest
had spoken, and feared that they might publicly humiliate him as well. He therefore did not
go back home, but withdrew instead into the mountains of a faraway land with his herdsmen,
so that his wife Anna might hear nothing about him. There he set up his tent, and after some
time he started fasting. "For forty days and forty nights I will not eat or drink anything,"
he said to himself. "My prayer will be my only food and drink until the Lord my God
visits me." ANNA’S LAMENT
(PEv 2:1; 2:8 3:7; PsMt 2,3) Jerusalem
His wife Anna sang two elegies, and uttered a double lament: "I will weep for my widowhood
and wail for my barrenness." For because she had heard nothing of what had become of Joachim,
she complained to God, and in tears did she plead, "Oh Lord, Great and Powerful God of
Israel, You have given me no children; why have You taken my husband as well? Behold,
it has been five months since I have seen him, and I have no idea where he might be.
If I knew that he were dead, I could at least bury him." Then she entered into the courtyard
of his house in the depth of her sorrow, fell to her face and prayed, pouring forth her
requests to the Lord.