Recovering Reason

©Julio Carrancho, 2004. Extracts from the book, Recovering Reason by Julio Carrancho, Johannesburg, South Africa. Text provided by the author.
 

Part I

Matthew 6:10 "Thy kingdom come"

"Thy kingdom come", and "your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him (Matthew 6:8,10) meant something else.

Jesus instructed his disciples, who in turn passed it to their followers to pray for God�s kingdom to come. The prayer implies urgency. A "kingdom to come" means that the present conditions are not accepted. It is Jesus who is telling the disciples that there is a certain "kingdom" that is going to come, because the one in power now is not good. It meant changing one oppressive kingdom with the ideal one installed by God, where complete peace and happiness would be the norm.

Did that EVER happen in this planet? It NEVER happened on earth ever since we started registering history. It�s the wrong planet, and we are here by an unfortunate accident. Obviously, Jesus would not mean pray for the overthrow of the evil Roman Empire through a campaign of much bloodshed to bring the ideal one. Politically, it was a dangerous prayer, because the Roman Empire would not simply lay down its weapons and allow itself to be dismantled to give space for the kingdom of God, even if that were possible.

Did Jesus mean revolution in his instruction? It seems he did. In the days in which the prayer was formulated, the atmosphere was loaded with revolutionary fervour against Rome and the Caesar. The disciples would have understood clearly what Jesus implied with "thy kingdom come". Yes, they did not want the present kingdom. Wasn�t it true that Jesus was the Messiah? Yes, down with the kingdom of darkness, and "viva" the kingdom of God! Yet, that never happened. Some forty years later, Rome destroyed Jerusalem and the prayer lost its intended political strength. The gospel writers filtered most of what Jesus said, and ADAPTED it to a new project.

Did Jesus ever pray that prayer? Did he ask the Father, "Please, Father in Heaven, thy kingdom come urgently!" He never did, because the kingdom never came. It would never come in the next 20 centuries of brutal history; at least THAT we know for sure. Did Jesus realize that "the kingdom of God" never came even BEFORE he arrived on earth from heaven? Did he never hear the Father in heaven telling him WHEN the kingdom would come? Had Jesus while IN HEAVEN been not aware of the future plans to bring in that fantastic NEW and desperately needed KINGDOM OF GOD on earth?

Did Jesus LIE to his disciples, or was he entirely IGNORANT of God�s future plans for our planet? If God had a plan to bring his kingdom on earth sometime, why not bring it IMMEDIATELY, before men messed up things? What was the REASON for allowing so many "Men�s Kingdoms" to bring in so much misery, when God had HIS KINGDOM ready to come? Did Jesus understand this REASONING? Very unlikely.

The world is still waiting for that glorious earthly kingdom of God. We assume that had that kingdom come, it would be here permanently, because to overthrow the kingdom of God is something else. It should have been here before the disciples died, and today we would be all happy and blessed.

Jesus could NOT pray that which he told his disciples to pray, for he knew that the kingdom would never come. He deceived the disciples? We now know, two thousand years later, oh yes, we know, that Jesus would NEVER ask his Father in Heaven for the IMPOSSIBLE.

That prayer was a religious joke, really. We have 20 centuries of misery on earth to prove it. If Jesus, the Son of God, had prayed "thy kingdom come", the kingdom would come. It didn�t, because he kept his lips closed and his heart silent. He guffawed at the stupid disciples, sorry to say. God would NOT say to his beloved and begotten Son, "No, I will not bring in that kingdom the humans NEED and WE want them have, because I have to make them SUFFER for at least another 2 millenniums!"

"But I asked my disciples to pray earnestly, without much repetition for the new�"

"I understands, son, but you forgot to tell them that one day for me is like a thousand years, so let them pray away� the kingdom will not come FOR SURE for at least TWO DAYS!"

You see, here is a god that counts THOUSANDS of years of human suffering and tragedy as if they were 24 hour days!� Have you heard your pastor offering that STUPID explanation, simply to justify God�s apathy? Why does your pastor do that?! To justify God�s behaviour?!! Well, thank your pastor for me, will you?

What an absurd command, asking his disciples to pray for the coming of God�s kingdom, when he could have brought it in himself. The truth is that millions and billions of such prayers over 20 centuries of time never succeeded in changing the world from a kingdom of brutality, misery and suffering to a one of peace, prosperity, happiness, freedom and liberty. If Jesus had been the Son of God and went to sit at the right hand of God, he also heard ALL those desperate prayers over the centuries. He knew from the beginning that the prayer was a sick joke, at least for the millions and millions of humans who suffered all that time.

Even now, millions pray that prayer, which is famous because the "Son" of God taught it, but it is utterly useless, for its bareness over the two millenniums. It is then logical to conclude that Jesus was wrong about that prayer. He never realized that such a prayer would not bear its fruit, for humanity would have to endure many generations of suffering under other evil kingdoms that would come instead.

The result of that prayer is sufficient proof that Jesus was only a religious revolutionary (very immature, at 30 years of age!), with no power of any sort, but the gospel writers changed and adapted the script to a new "crisis" after he died.

What God would not pray "Thy kingdom come" and then BRING in the kingdom? Jesus failed all those who believed him and waited for a kingdom of freedom and happiness on earth. It never came and it never will.

If Jesus meant a spiritual kingdom, then the next sentence is a terrible contradiction, for he asked that the new kingdom would introduce God�s will on earth as it is in Heaven. It could not be that God�s will on earth would be 20 centuries of suffering under the will of man.

The human race needs a kingdom of peace, happiness and freedom, and God knows it from the beginning. Jesus told the disciples not to be too pushy with repetitive prayers, just a minute before he taught them to ask for God�s kingdom.

Not to be pushy, under such DESPERATE conditions?!! Dear Lord, do we bother God with our praying? You mean, we must not use "VAIN" repetitions, even when we are oppressed under such brutal manmade kingdoms?!� If so, dear Lord, please, YOU ask God on our behalf! Please, Lord, ask YOUR Father ONCE, and he will hear YOU, and the kingdom will come, Alleluia! That is our prayer to YOU, Lord, and YOU pray to God on our behalf, and certainly, the blessed kingdom of God SHALL come. AMEN?

No, sadly it never came.

Jesus had many such contradictions to prove how human and immature he was. Yet, the truth is beyond finding, because much of the handwritten material that circulated in the church for the next 15 centuries and beyond had no possible proof of its authorship.

Part II

Wouldn�t have been better for Jesus to teach that we should pray, "Let us come into your kingdom", rather then "Thy kingdom come", since that kingdom of God never came?

Jesus told the apostles not to use too much repetition when praying to God, but immediately, three verses down (Matthew 6:7,10) formulated what would later be famously called the most repeated "The Lord�s Prayer"! By now, BILLIONS of them have been said without any positive results.

Well, tell that to the average Christian and expect a stern rebuke and a "spiritual" explanation for the problem.

It seems that all those billions of prayers were rather a useless and boring routine, unable to worry an impassive God. If the kingdom will come one day, it will come only when God decides so. According to Jesus, if one uses vain repetitions, one is compared to the heathen (Matthew 6:7). But we are under a terrible strain and we have to be repetitive, are we not? What to do with Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it shall be given you"? And what with John 14:13, "And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

Jesus put it once to Pilate that "his" kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36); so we are wrong to ask for it to come: that kingdom is already somewhere THERE! It will NOT come here in this world.

Obviously, John was writing "his" gospel 60 years after Pentecost, and the need for a "new kingdom" revolution had lost its impact with the devastating defeat for Jesus� generation: Jerusalem was in ruins and many thousands of citizens barbarically killed and crucified. If the kingdom of God had to come, the BEST time would have been prior to that terrible time. Of course, we are aware that John�s gospel was compiled by a Gnostic pagan called "John", or somebody anonymous.

The so-called "God�s kingdom" that the Essenes waited for was gone. Do you remember Masada and the Essene Zealots who committed mass suicide? They were the ones waiting for the kingdom that would NOT come, and Jesus had been a member of that fanatical sect. The Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that John the Baptist and Jesus were connected with that crowd. So, the "thy kingdom come" prayer initially had revolutionary and political overtones. No "thy kingdom" came for sure. But soon, through Matthew and partly Luke (with his two thirds Lord�s Prayer), the goalposts were moved and adapted to a new "vision", invented by the next generation of "zealots". John does not include that prayer, and it would be historically absurd to have it in "his" gospel.

Jesus told "us" � actually, he NEVER told US the Gentiles � to pray "Thy kingdom come", but he was not in the least interested in explaining how and when that kingdom would come. He taught adult men as if they were little children! "Pray away, and one day in that kingdom you�ll play."

Had Jesus been God, as Catholics and Protestants believe, he would know, or at least he would realize it later in glory, that his instruction to pray "Thy kingdom come", and "Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven", was nothing but a bluff.

Isn�t God interested in coming among us with his kingdom, and have his will done here on earth as it is done in heaven? If yes, what is impeding and delaying it? Do we have to force him to do it, so to speak? If he has all the power, all the wisdom and all the will, what�s hindering him? What�s the problem, really? Our sin? We are sinners and will continue to be until the very end of the world, because we live in very harsh conditions, not beneficial to godliness and purity. As simple as that!

We never had genuine help from any god, whether we prayed for a better kingdom or not. We are genetically "assembled" to sin, and we have also in our genes the imprinting of all the struggles of our ancestors. We need a genuine SAVIOUR, not one that tells us to pray for the kingdom of God, and 2000 years later are still waiting!

It has been generation upon generation of suffering and more suffering, and no help from any god! That's the crude reality. Isn�t that shameful for all those gods out there? What do they REALLY do where they live up there, while THEY KNOW that we are suffering so much down here? Anybody has THE answer, please?

Could God not transplant us all to another planet with the ideal livi ng conditions? Is that too much of a miracle to pray for? God could have done that when we were only TWO! We are now stuck in this terrible predicament, and in our desperation try with all our might to understand the reason of it all. We even invent "Saviours", but nothing helps. We are born already condemned and soon we fall victims of that destiny. Surely, religion offers all sorts of explanations, but we never find the "kingdom". The kingdoms religion has invented have all been more of the same FAILURES, where violence is one tool to protect its findings.

What do you say to a woman in hospital coming out of coma, after a tragic car accident where the husband and two young children perished? What message of comfort has Christianity to offer? Is the human life of any value to its Creator? Obviously not. Does God observe us suffering? Does he find any pleasure in that? If not, and if he is our REAL friend, what is holding him from offering REAL help? Our sin cannot be the reason, surely not.

Exodus 20:3 "Thou shalt have no other gods before me"

Other gods?! Is there other gods? Of course there are, otherwise Jehovah God of the tribal Jews, and their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would not mention them in the Ten Commandments.

Where were the other gods? Well, the surrounding tribes of the Middle East worshipped them.

What was wrong with those gods that Jehovah hated them so much? Well, they were worshipped by means or IMAGES, and had a brutal temperament and led their followers to practise all sorts of witchcraft and idolatry. They also accepted human sacrifices and more brutality.

Yes, but the question was, did Jehovah never do brutality against anybody? Did he never kill any innocent child or adult? Did he never destroy everything in battle? Did Jehovah never accepted any images and temples, and tabernacles and never had a material thing representing him? He did all that.

So, what was the problem? Why turn his rage and wrath against the peoples of the region, instead of against the gods that misled them? The problem was that there were other gods, but Jehovah had a problem he could not solve with them! What problem? Jehovah never explained it to anybody, but, apparently, the gods were TOO MANY!

All those gods wanted man�s worship, and we don�t know why, and were never told why until today. The problem was that Jehovah could not eliminate from the scene the other gods who were abusing the humans. Did Jehovah ever eliminate those gods from the earth? No, they are still around, maybe disguised with different names, if they are afraid of something unknown to us. Neither Jehovah got rid of them nor man stopped worshipping them. Even Israel went under their seduction spell and abandoned Jehovah, which brought them much, much trouble.

Now, the problem is not us, the humans. We are the innocent victims in some unexplainable cosmic conflict. Here we are, inclined to worship a deity, but told that among the many gods available only one is allowed. It seems that if we follow other gods, the strongest god will punish us. Yet, that strongest god is not strong enough to eliminate the smaller ones that lead us to disobey and sin, and rid the universe of such menace.

Man has always worshipped the invisible gods only because he is in a desperate situation, condemned to die from the very minute he is born, and that brings him much fear. It is then FEAR of the afterlife that led our ancestors to hear the voices of the various gods calling for worship to help them in their sad condition and desperate predicament.

Oh, if we could only understand the reason for being caught in the middle of that celestial clash. But who is going to tell us the truth, if gods don't?

There is a major disagreement among the gods, unable to live in peace with each other, and that results in them bringing their frustrations to the human level, causing the perpetual unhappiness of our race. Why would the gods not cooperate for the benefit of all, gods and humans? Why would they not work together to better our living conditions in such a way as to bring to earth a completely happy existence?

DEATH!

Why are the gods incapable of helping us? What did we do wrong that we have ALL the gods against us? Why are the gods ready to punish us, the inferior "little gods" that we are, if we do not acknowledge their presence? Why are the gods killings us from the beginning, and still not happy that BILLIONS of us have suffered their victimization?

Why, why?

What are we guilty of, so that we are born already condemned? What�s the difference between worshipping this or that god if we cannot have a REAL friend in any of them? But the BIG GOD would say that there is a nice reward next to him in heaven if we behave nicely down here on earth. OK, we have no option, because the punishment at the hands of this loving God is simply horrendous! Those who say they know Jehovah well, speak of an eternity of BURNING in eternal flames, my goodness, how horrible, forgive me Lord!

The God of the tribal Israel demanded total obedience to his commandments; otherwise, he would not bless them and the land [they stole from other people, while there was so much FREE land available around them!!]. In that obedience, was the need to go out and annex the land and possession of others, and kill every man, woman and child, including innocent animals! After all that brutal behaviour, the children of Jehovah had to gather around a wooden box in a tent and worship with joy and ecstasy, for God�s will had been done, Amen.

Was there enough land for everybody, or was Moses a THIEF? Did Jehovah predict today�s turmoil in the Middle East?

"Have no other gods", what for? Life�s a bitch, and then we die. So many gods threatening us the condemned to death. Is it then not logical to wonder whether we are in our terrible predicament because of so many gods involved in skirmishes around our small planet?

We have sorted out many of the problems that the gods created for us. Today, we have electricity in our homes, but billions of humans suffered the dangers of the night, the cold of winter, and the heat of summer. The gods, if they knew how to produce electricity, never moved a finger to help the hundreds of generations that lived and suffered before that commodity was discovered. Why didn�t Jehovah lead Israel to discover the Electrical Flow, the Printing Press, and the Bill of Rights? Why, instead, lead that tribe to WAR? We have now, before our eyes, a landscape of human endeavours that improved our existence and turned it less painful. Yet, even that is not the right solution, because we pollute our planet and we are moving to its inexorable collapse. Those gods are incapable of helping us in any direction. We have to save ourselves, if we can.

Part III

For those who like statistics, can you prove this one wrong?

Jesus instructed the disciples to pray for the coming of God�s kingdom but it never came in 2000 years. He also suggested to his group to avoid vain repetitions (Matthew 6:7-10), because God knew their needs before they asked. As I said above, the so-called "Lord�s Prayer" was initially only for Jews. Paul, for instance, never speaks of praying such a prayer.

But let me give you the following stats about that famous prayer. If ONE MILLION people prayed one "Thy kingdom come" a day for the last 2000 years, that is, 365 MILLION "Thy kingdom come" per year, it would amount to 730 BILLION prayers over the 20 centuries. If it takes 30 seconds to say one "Our Father", how many years would it take ONE person to say 730 BILLION prayers? It would take approximately 6 BILLION hours: that is, around SIX HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE THOUSAND YEARS non-stop!

See it from another angle. If in the last century alone ONE BILLION prayers were said EVERY DAY, that would amount to 365 BILLION in one year and 36 and a half THOUSAND BILLION prayers in a century asking God for His kingdom to come! If one person had to pray all those prayers, two per minute, it would take 34 MILLION YEARS non-stop!

We know that the most fanatical Catholics pray the Rosary with 5 "Our Fathers" every time, a few times a day.

The questions are plenty, but one is most important: How many more prayers do we have to say for the elusive kingdom to finally come? We know one thing for sure: the kingdom has not come for the last 20 centuries! And, please, remember that Jesus told the disciples not to insist too much with vain repetitions, for God knew what we needed before we asked. It sounds by now like it hasn�t come due to our doggedness.

The one UNIMPORTANT question to ask is this: will the kingdom ever come? Now, dear friends, don�t tell me that I cannot use my REASON powers to look at this incredible quandary. Can we not be scientific on "Faith" problems?

This statistic proves something. Of course, I�m entirely aware of its implications for our Christian faith, but we have a sort of faith that can overcome the most incredible obstacles and still go on strong, so to speak.

I believe today that Jesus wouldn�t have taught the "Lord�s Prayer" if he were God. The other "scholarly" option is that Jesus never taught such a prayer, but was invented possibly earlier by the radical/fanatical "Essenes", (or "harmonisers" included it later in Matthew and a shorter version in Luke — you must always remember that by the end of the first century and throughout the second, there was a massive tampering with the "Bible"!).

Check this against what Luke says Jesus said to his disciples at a most important hour in their lives. Please, remember that Textual Criticism has another author for the Book of Acts; some "Catholic Father" of the second century, called Theophilus (not the one in Acts 1:1), the guy who liked to "harmonise" the gospels and scrap what he didn�t agree with, while having a big fight with another "harmoniser" called Marcion.

Acts 1:6 — "When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses �".

As I say elsewhere in the book, here we see a "Jesus" different from the one in the gospels. This "Jesus" is not going to answer the most important question the disciples WANTED him to answer. On the contrary, Jesus tells them that he himself doesn�t know what they are talking about, and offers a "nice" excuse, instead of being as clear as a bell to quieten the worried disciples.

If this "Jesus" were God, he would know when the "Kingdom of God" would come. So, either way, he cheated the disciples. They could not know at that time that the "Thy kingdom come" would NOT come for sure for at least 20 CENTURIES. The Jews would have to pray away for centuries, amounting to BILLIONS of prayers, and NO kingdom! Is that what you call the "Infallible Scriptures"? I�m just asking an innocent question.

The disciples had heard Jesus preaching for three years about the kingdom of heaven that would come SOON, but prior to his "Ascension" (which is scholarly recognised as something that did NOT happen), the disciples, anxious to know whether the kingdom would come or not, got the cold shoulder and a vague reply, and away they went disillusioned and without hope. Then Jesus gives them another confusing sign, that is, that they would receive power to be his witnesses.

Why? Jesus had the power, had he not? So, why would he not bring the kingdom that hour? Oh, well, we NOW know that the kingdom NEVER came, and I�m sure, will NEVER come. The whole thing was a political manoeuvre that failed after the destruction of Jerusalem. Paul was cleverer than the apostles, and soon moved the gospel into the Gentile nations, and the Jews were left behind until today. Take it from any angle you want, and you arrive at the same cul-de-sac: NO kingdom ever came! Throw away your orthodoxy.

The "Our Father" was initially only for Jews, that is undisputable. "The kingdom" always had political overtones against the oppressors. To ask the Gentiles to pray "Thy kingdom come" would amount to blasphemy punishable with stoning, for the prayer was definitely against the Gentiles. Those are real historical facts nobody can dispute.

There was in the 60�s CE a major revolt of Jews against the Roman gentiles, trying to bring in by force the kingdom of God back to Palestine, which failed disastrously with the destruction of Jerusalem and massive slaughtering of its inhabitants. After 70 CE, there was no more hope or need to pray "Thy kingdom come". The Masada mass-suicide of the last remnant of the Essenic Jews put an ignominious end to the logic to pray "Thy kingdom come". From then on, Gnostic sects, Catholic cults and later Protestant factions "spiritualised" that prayer and away they went praying ever more in vain a dead, unfruitful and useless request. The moral principle now is: let us repeat the prayer ad nauseam, because while there�s life there�s hope. That original kingdom is not going to come for sure [without a major conflagration of hatred and destruction: that is religion!].

The world had to go for 20 centuries under the brutality of various men�s kingdoms, with all their cruelty. No "God�s kingdom" ever came, nothing to revive our hope. On the contrary, one of those manmade brutal kingdoms was even called "The Holy Roman Empire", where millions of INNOCENT humans were slaughtered in the name of God to bring in that "wonderful" "Kingdom of God". That brutal empire ended on another brutal war, as all wars are.

An antagonist argued that 2000 years is like two days for God. Yes, how horrible! Two thousand years of suffering for our race, always hoping against all odds for a kingdom of peace and happiness that never came. For us, the suffering race, it is irrelevant how God looks at it, whether it means two days or two seconds. Our reality is 2000 years of painful praying for something that was promised by Jesus and NEVER came. That�s OUR reality: it�s different from God�s reality. If God�s kingdom will ever come, though hope is lost, it will not be for the zillions of "Our Fathers" and "Thy kingdom come" we painfully said, no. It will be at God�s own time and discretion, and the prayer "Thy kingdom come" never had any real meaning or power. Quite sad to arrive at such a conclusion.

As cruel as it may sound, the evil architects of the famously ignominious "Holy Roman Empire" are still conspiring to project once again their wicked shadow of brutality on this traumatised planet, malignantly still trying to restore their dreaded and deadly "Holy Kingdom" in this new millennium.

It looks like in God�s eyes it is going to be only another day or hour of pain, suffering and religious oppression. "Thy kingdom come" too late. Too late.

Protestants teach that at the end of it all, there will be another major military confrontation where perhaps a billion souls will be slaughtered to make way for a thousand years of peace on earth, which will culminate in yet another massive attack of Satan on the city of David. Oh, well, we have always been LOSERS, even after praying a trillion times "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come".

Part IV

As an epilogue to this reasoning, let me say that to me it is strange to imagine that God is incapable of resolving man�s wickedness and introduce total happiness on Earth. The human race will never be fully happy in this planet. The drama of perpetual pain will continue until we end as an extinct species. Death is our destiny. Of course, other theories insist on reincarnation, evolution and something else. Suffering and tears will never cease until the inexorable end. Religions ascertain that there is a loving God watching the drama�s perpetual painful staging, but not willing to interfere and stop the horror. Stop the continuing horror, you see.

We have very few means to explain why we are alone in this planet without an outside source to really help us defeat our most dreadful enemies. It is not only that we fear the end, but also that we do not have a friend in the entire universe that can alleviate or remove the human tragedy of disease, crime, war, pain, vice and all the other hundred troubles.

How illogical to possess a mind that reasons our plight and yet being incapable of defining and following a route of real happiness for our race. We need external help, but the cosmos is forever silent. We need a God to lead us out of our disastrous destiny and point out the direction of complete happiness. Religions have tried, but failed miserably. Prophets and saviours came and left without doing one simple gesture of real help. All religions are in the end utterly useless. We know why. All religions are just dead weights we add to our already heavily troubled life. Gods, saviours, saints and prophets are useless vain imaginations of a mind in desperate pain. We need a new saviour, for all the ones we know only caused more hurt. This new one will have to be a [genetically engineered] superman, or our race will simply go on from error to error and from horror to horror. War will never end, until all swords are beaten into plowshares, and all spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2:4). But, if every man becomes a husbandman, fight will again ensue to protect the crops. We need a new saviour that can lead us OUT of this evil planet; not one that can keep us from fighting. The one with the real Kingdom of real love and eternal happiness.

Although the Earth is a beautiful place to see, it is at the same time the largest graveyard in the universe. This celestial rock is the ideal place for galactic tourism, but not to live here permanently. We, as a human race, desire to leave to a safer home. We are tired of this unwelcome space. Some say we are moving up to where we belonged, the stars, through a new conscientiousness or spiritual detachment, or whatever. I know nothing.
 
©Julio Carrancho, Recovering Reason, 2004
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