The Science of Conspiracy Theories

Trinity Conspiracy

Trinity Conspiracy

This will probably offend some and shock others, but it's something I've been thinking about for a very long time. My thoughts would be considered heretical, but I feel that what has happened to Christianity down through the ages from the time of Jesus has been corrupted by political intrigue and greed. I blame this on the Catholic Church, but Protestant sects are also to blame. The Protestant Reformation did not go far enough and was a failure. What is needed is a revolution.

Let me state for the record that I've had four years of theology in college and training to be a religion teacher. I know the Bible and I understand current Christian theology, not that this would in any way make me an expert. However, I feel that there is a problem with modern Christianity. My belief is that the Christian church of today is not what Jesus envisaged. I also feel that the theology that is the cornerstone of Christianity is confusing and misleading.

There are two aspects to Christianity that need reform:

The corruption that has infected the institution.
The theology of the Trinity.

I'll start with the institution.
First of all, Jesus did not command the Apostles to go out and build a powerful religious institution. Let's go back to the passage in Mathew 16:18-19 where Jesus told Peter; "And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." The word for 'church' in Greek (ecclesia means assembly) and Latin when traced back to its Hebrew meaning is not an institution but rather a community. It definitely means a group of people not an institution. Remember that Jesus knew Hebrew and Aramaic and possibly Greek so the word he used means a community.

There is also a lot of controversy about Peter being associated with the 'rock', which is a feminine word in Greek. The Catholic Church ran off with this idea and recognized Peter as the first Pope and then established a succession of Popes, some of which were not very holy or even concerned about religious matters. There are many books out there that relate the shortcomings of the papacy and the underlying causes for the Protestant Reformation.

Jesus established the idea of liturgy when at the Last Supper he told the apostles to take the bread and wine as his body and blood, which would be poured out unto remission of sins, and eat and drink it. He told them to do this to remember him. At this point Jesus was making a new covenant with us. The original covenant was made with Abraham. This new covenant would be the forgiveness of sins upon his death and resurrection.

At no other time do we see Jesus establishing a worship service or the idea of a church. Jesus was a Jew and as such was accustomed to going to the temple. At one point he made a whip and chased the moneychangers out of the temple. The reason there were moneychangers is that the Roman currency had the image of the Caesar (emperor) as a god. No such blasphemous object could be taken into the temple. Jesus told the money changers that the temple was his father's house and that he didn't want them there selling doves, lambs and oxen. Essentially, the Temple was the only church that Jesus knew about. There is no place where Jesus told his apostles to form a huge institution with churches and the accumulation of money. He told them to go out with minimal goods and money. He even told them not to accept payment and only rely on the charity that people would provide them.

Jesus also told the apostles to go and spread the good news, which is what the word Gospel means. The good news was that the kingdom of heaven is near. In Matthew 10:14 he told them; "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go forth out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of you feet." Basically, Jesus told them that they would be persecuted and put to death in his name. Nowhere did he tell them to kill anyone if they didn't believe.