The Jesus Way

 

So what is Aaron Abke doing these days? I remember when he promoted ACIM and Law of One. Today, he is more into "Essene Christianity", which seems to be a modernized version of ancient Jewish Christianity. In this long video, Abke and two associates discuss their main doctrines, which they half-jokingly dub "heresies". 

One central idea is that Jesus was an Essene, and that the Essenes were vegetarians. Jesus preached salvation through the Golden Rule (which included no killing or eating of animals) and didn´t see himself as ontologically "God". The Christology seems to be adoptionist. Jesus´ blood brother James was his true successor, not Peter and absolutely not Paul, whose message of atonement through the salvific death of Christ was a gross distortion of the original Jesus Way. Paul got his "gospel" from highly dubious visions and "revelations", not from Jesus or his true disciples. 

The true Christians were the Ebionites, the Nazarenes and other Jewish Christian sects, which were persecuted by the emergent Catholic Church. Abke and his friends reference the "Hebrew Gospel of Matthew" and the Pseudo-Clementines, while arguing that the Bible contains numerous errors. Interestingly, they also try to argue their case in a scholarly way by referencing James Tabor (who actually appeared on Abke´s pod cast). Here and there, some *truly* heretical ideas shine through, such as a belief in reincarnation, a strong skepticism towards the Old Testament, and Law of One terminology.

One thing that struck me when watching this video is that the "Jesus Way" - despite its seemingly "liberal" theology - is actually harder in some ways than mainstream Christianity (or Churchianity). For instance, the idea that salvation comes strictly through works, that the Ten Commandments must be followed rigorously, and that vegetarianism is an absolutely central rule. The fact that Jesus and the Christians were persecuted is strongly emphasized, the persecution being the work of both the Romans, the Jewish elite, and (later) the Catholic Church (which persecuted the Jewish Christians). In many ways, the Jesus Way comes across as a rigorist sect. Their alternative to "Pauline" Christianity seems...extreme. Not sure if I would like to join!

That being said, the video is nevertheless interesting in many ways. Perhaps recommended.