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The Way of
Priesthood
Each
human heart yearns for union with the profound Reality that is its source,
being, and true nature. For an increasing number of people,
institutional religion no longer satisfies this yearning. They are
ready for sacramental training in a life of self-evolution and
service--the sacred way of Priesthood.
Home
Sanctuary and Altar
Before
there were churches, and well into the fourth century, people gathered for private worship in their homes,
just as Mar Yeshua, the Master Jesus, had done with his close
disciples. The spiritual intimacy of the Havurah Seder or sacred
meal developed into the Holy Communion or Eucharist of the Christian
churches, with far more ancient roots in the sacred meals of the mystery
religions of Greece, Egypt, and the Middle East. Today the "Mass" and
other aspects of Priestly Sacramental ministry are most meaningfully
practiced and experienced in the sanctuary of home and private altar with
a small gathering of close spiritual companions--without church dogma and
creed, but with reverence for the sacred fire of Divine Communion that
Mar Yeshua and all great Masters have rekindled for humanity.
THE HOME
TEMPLE
The Home Temple is a new vessel for powerful and transformative spiritual
impulses that are emerging in twenty-first century humanity.
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Rather than
doctrinal "belief," the Home Temple awakens the interior knowledge of the
Heart transmitted by Yeshua and embodied in the higher
mystical teachings of Masters from all traditions.
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Rather than
professional clergy supported by the donations of non-ordained laity, all
members of the Home Temple are encouraged to progress through the
traditional degrees of Apostolic Ordination, and there is no separate
class of paid professional clergy.
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Rather than
male-dominated church hierarchy, the Synod of Bishops is a collegial order
of women and men with equal vote and standing.
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The male and female Presiding Co-Bishops maintain a deep commitment to
re-establishing the feminine-masculine partnership roots of spirituality
that were foundational to Yeshua's teachings on becoming shalem
or attaining spiritual wholeness and perfection.
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Rather than a
costly three-year onsite academic seminary program, the Home Temple offers
low-cost, six-month distance-learning modules comprising both study
and spiritual practice that prepare for Ordination as Deacon and Priest,
with elevation to Bishop (Episcopate) by nomination and vote of the Synod
of Bishops based on proven spiritual leadership.
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Our unique
ordination training program is based on the Jewish Messianic, Merkabah,
and wisdom-school mysticism and Kabbalistic practices of Mar Yeshua,
the Master Jesus, as scholars have been able to recover and reconstruct
them.
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Rather than
emphasis upon theology, the Home Temple provides pathways for advanced
spiritual Initiation through T:.H:.G:., the Temple of the Holy Grail, and
training in esoteric Grail Priesthood.
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INTERFAITH EMPHASIS: After Ordination, Priests and Priestesses are free to
work in their own metaphysical or theological frameworks subject only to
the
Home Temple Code of Ethics,
reverence for the Master Jesus, the
Home Temple Statement on Vitalistic Healing,
and annual report to their Bishop. Outstanding Priests and Priestess are
nominated by their Bishops for Consecration as independent Bishops of the
Home Temple Synod.
For
details see
FAQ's,
Charters, and
Home Temple.
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The Authentic
Historical Teachings of Yeshua
Home Temple seminary training is based
on the historical spiritual teachings of Mar Yeshua, the Master
Jesus. These are NOT the teachings of Christianity.
Until
recently scholars have studied the teachings of Yeshua exactly
as they appear in the Greek language and vocabulary of the New
Testament Gospels, even though they knew that the sayings had been
transmitted without context, reinterpreted, and spun to reflect early
gentile Christian doctrines about the Lord Jesus (KurioV
IhsouV). What they overlooked was
that the Aramaic-Hebrew vocabulary and spiritual concepts used by
Yeshua were grossly misunderstood in their translation into New
Testament Greek, and therefore did not represent his authentic teachings.
The faithfulness (emunah) urged by Yeshua became Christian
“faith” meaning belief (pistis). Yeshua’s key concept of the
Malkuth, divine Sovereignty shared by spiritually reborn saints,
became the Christian idea of the Basileon, Kingdom of Heaven. And
on it went. The early non-Jewish churches did not attempt to understand or
transmit the historical teachings of Yeshua. By mid-first-century,
before the earliest Gospel had been written, they were in bitter conflict
with the original Jewish congregations. The gentile Hellenistic churches
developed a proto-orthodoxy that would survive and be known as
Christianity, based not on the teachings of Yeshua, but on Pauline
doctrines about a deity called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died as a
human sacrifice to propitiate a patriarchal God for the sins of humanity.
But Paul never knew or studied with Yeshua. He boasted that what he
called “my gospel” was based on his personal visions, and that he had not
studied with the Apostles and disciples of Yeshua. He was
particularly opposed to the views of James the Just (Yakob Ha-Tzadik),
the brother and chosen successor of Yeshua [Galatians 1:12, 2:12,
et al.] But today scholars have tools to reconstruct the authentic
historical teachings of Yeshua.
By using modern biblical criticism to
read and interpret Paul, the Christian Gospels (which were based on
Pauline theology), and applying the same to other extant sources of
Yeshua's teachings like the Aramaic core of the Gospel of Thomas,
then translating the Greek sayings and parables back into their original
Hebrew-Aramaic language, we can begin to recover the historical teachings
of Yeshua. They can be further illuminated by examining the Jewish
wisdom, Merkabah, and messianic traditions of his era. When we do
this, we find that the teachings of Yeshua were rooted in the
proto-kabbalistic mysticism of the wisdom and apocalyptic schools of the
sophisticated Jewish diaspora community in Babylon--the probable location
of the so-called "lost years" of Jesus. That is where his concept of the
Bar-Enash or Son-of-Man Messiah originated, as opposed to the
Son-of-David Messiah of Palestine adopted by Paul and the early gentile
Christians.
The historical
teachings of Yeshua were Kabbalistic. The inner-circle teachings
given by Yeshua to his closest disciples are incomprehensible if
taken out of their Kabbalistic frame of reference, and even many of the
public teachings have Kabbalistic background.
The Master saw
himself as a
prophet and first-born of the Bar-Enash or New Humanity revealed in
visions by the Babylonian mystics who wrote the books of Daniel, Trito-Isaiah, Enoch,
and the Babylonian Talmud. The Bar-Enash, Son-of-Mankind Messiah (New Humanity or
"Second Adam" of the Pauline letters) would redeem mankind from
its bondage to sin. Each soul born of the Old Adam would have the
opportunity to spiritually redeem itself from bondage to evil and rebirth
itself as a member of the body of the Christ or New Humanity. Spiritual
rebirth as a yeled or "newly-born" could be achieved by following the Halakah or "Way of
Walking in Life" taught by Yeshua.
In
other words, Yeshua's Son-of-Mankind Messiah or Christ is not just Jesus,
as taught by Christianity. It is a corporate spiritual being--the
pre-existent heavenly
archetype of a coming New Adam or Humanity that is to be spiritually
reborn soul by soul while living in flesh. Those who achieve this
establish the Malkuth or Sovereignty (not "Kingdom") of Godhead on
Earth. Over the ages humanity and the planet will transform spiritually
until the Messianic Age or 'Olam Ha-Ba is fully established on
Earth.
For an introduction to the
historical teaching, go to the
YouTube Page and view the series entitled the
Pre-Christian Teachings of Yeshua. The book cover shown to the left
is just one of Dr. Keizer's many writings on the authentic teachings of
Yeshua. Others can be found in the Catalogue at
www.wisdomseminars.org, his
seminar and teaching site. Included in ordination training are the
complete weekend seminars entitled Yeshua: The Unknown Jesus, and
The Yeshua Seminar. Currently Dr.
Keizer, Presiding Bishop, is scheduling two multimedia PowerPoint public seminars
on the historical teachings of Yeshua. For details click
HERE or take the link entitled LECTURE-TOUR
in the navigation bar at the top of this page.
To learn
more, click on the
icon below:
Dr. Keizer's
writings are available
HERE,
HERE, and
HERE as $10 e-book downloads and more expensive paperbacks.
Home
Temple Ordination transmits the full repertoire of twenty-two extant lines
of valid, historic Apostolic Succession from the Master Jesus for
spiritual ministry after completion of studies in our unique home-study
seminary program. These are the same Holy Orders transmitted in Catholic
and Orthodox Churches. Take the link on the buttons to the left to
APOSTOLIC LINEAGES. You
may also wish to view the narrated flash presentation
HERE.
For a detailed history of the Independent Episcopate, we provide an online PDF file of The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a
New Spirituality by Lewis Keizer. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat
Reader, click here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/
A
new edition of Dr. Keizer's The Wandering Bishops: Apostles of a New
Spirituality is not yet in print. However you can open and print out
the PDF file of the previous edition by clicking on the image of the book
cover to the left. You may print the book for your personal,
non-commercial use.
Home Temple Ordination confers valid Apostolic Succession--the Priesthood
of Melchizedek. The training materials for Ordination are based on the
universally-applicable traditions, Kabbalistic teachings, and spiritual
practices of Mar Yeshua, the Master Jesus. These are not
doctrines of any church or religion, but the authentic teachings and
practices of a great Spiritual Master, as contemporary scholars have been
able to understand and restore them. They were better preserved in
medieval Chasidic, Kabbalistic, Gnostic, and Sufi traditions of Judaism
and Islam than in Eastern or Western Christianity. Today they constitute a
vital new spiritual impulse for people in their quest for personal and
social transformation.
During
Ordination training, postulants use a specially-designed Sacramentary to
maximize their understanding of the historical teaching and practices of
Mar Yeshua, the historical Master Jesus. After Ordination our
independent Priestesses and Priests are free to use their own spiritual
liturgies, teachings, and religious emphasis subject only to the
Home Temple Code of Ethics
and reverence for the Master Jesus.
This
is not a dry, textbook-based correspondence course. A fascinating
combination of integrative spiritual practice with academic texts, audio
lectures, video demonstrations, tests, seminars, Skype video mentorships,
and online instructional links prepares the candidate for Ordination into
Diaconate, Priesthood, and Episcopate in direct Apostolic lineage from
Mar Yeshua. All of these materials are now delivered online, digitized
for download, and accessed through password protected pages.
Our program
provides an authentic path of spiritual development and religious
expression without denominational bias or Christian dogma. It puts
members into communication with colleagues worldwide who share a common
vision of human spiritual evolution in all spiritual paths.
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APPLICATION:
Careful screening includes three character references
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TUITION:
$400 each for six-month online Diaconate Studies, $500 for online Priesthood
Studies; one
set of materials may be shared at reduced tuition for each by two
applicants accepted to the program who wish to form a study
partnership
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CODE OF ETHICS:
All Postulants for Holy Orders must agree to our Code of Ethics under
legal signature; violation of Ethics may demit from Home Temple
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ORDINATION:
Weekend Seminar and Ordination by Home Temple Synod Bishop upon
completion of studies and final approval by Presiding Bishops; first
Diaconate, then Priesthood
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FAST TRACK:
Previously Ordained independent clergy in valid Apostolic Orders, as
well as seminary-trained non-Apostolic ministers, may petition the
Presiding Bishops for evaluation of previous seminary education and
admission to the Home Temple Priesthood or Synod of Independent
Bishops by completing low-cost supplemental studies
A
Priestess or Priest who demonstrates spiritual leadership and worthiness
is invited to be advanced into the Episcopate, or Office of a Bishop, to
serve in the world-wide Synod of Home Temple Bishops. As an Independent
Bishop of the Home Temple, he or she may choose to exercise non-profit
ministries through a legal and independent
Corporation Sole.
Click to hear an orientation to the Diaconate Studies by Bishop Keizer.
Ordination is now available in England, Australia, Canada, South America,
and the U.S.
The
Home Temple SCHOOL OF SACRED STUDIES offer programs for its clergy leading
to the Bachelor of Divinity (B.D.) for those who successfully complete
Priesthood Studies, the Master of Divinity (M.Div.), Doctor of Divinity (D.D.),
and Doctor of Vitalistic Healing (D.V.H.) degrees, as well as
Certification in Pastoral Counseling.
These are not accredited
academic or professional credentials. They are applicable only to
non-professional home ministries. However, they document and certify
continuing study and pastoral skills that are vital for growth in
spiritual vocation. Seminary and ministerial degrees are offered using resources
of the
Caduceus Institute of Classical Homeopathy
and Dr. Keizer's
Wisdom
Seminars
online educational site. The certification program develops skills in
marriage, grief, hospice, and other pastoral counseling issues. They are
inexpensive distance-learning programs that can be completed at one's
own pace. Certificates and Special Ministry D.V.H. degree in Homeopathy
are designed and mentored by Home Temple clergy who possess academic and
professional credentials in the appropriate fields of study.
Link to
the
HOME
TEMPLE SCHOOL OF SACRED STUDIES.
Ordinands travel to the
Home Temple Center in Aromas, CA, for two days of final training, retreat,
fellowship, and ordination to Priesthood or consecration to the
Episcopate.
Photos from Summer and Winter Ordination Seminars
2004-2011
(CLICK HERE)
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Home
Church and Mission Charters
We train and empower sincere,
mature people to conduct their own unique spiritual ministries.
Independent Priests and Priestesses offer sacramental, transitional, and
life-cycle spiritual services, as well as teaching, counseling, and other
forms of ministry to their families and communities. Although rooted in
the Apostolic Succession transmitted by Mar Yeshua, the Master
Jesus, they are free to incorporate Buddhist, Shamanic, Goddess, Sufi,
Theosophical, Hindu, Native American, or any other elements of
transformational human spirituality into their churches, teachings,
ministries, and rituals. Home-based ministries may be chartered as
federally tax-exempt, non-profit churches or missions of the Home Temple.
Completion of Diaconate training qualifies the student as a Candidate for
Ordination into the Apostolic Deaconate with Charter as a Mission of the
Home Temple. Completion of Priesthood training qualifies the student as a
Candidate for Ordination into the Apostolic Priesthood and Charter for an
independent Church of the Home Temple. Click on the
CHARTER
button for more information.
An
Independent Priest or Bishop already operating a ministry may apply for
Home Temple Articles of Affiliation leading to church Charter or (in the
case of a Bishop) formation of a legal
Corporation Sole.
Affiliation of a previously Ordained or Consecrated minister requires Fast
Track (see below) and, in the case of a Bishop, completion of Home
Temple Episcopal training (First Order T:.H:.G:.).
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Mar Yeshua:
Reverence for the Master Jesus
The Centrality of Jesus Studies for Home Temple Seminarians
[Click
on book cover to preview our teachings on the Halakah of Yeshua.]
Our
focus in Ordination training is not upon theology, doctrine, dogma, or
creed, but upon the historical Teachings of the Master Yeshua. This
area of academic focus is called Jesus Studies. It is not possible to
understand the Basor or "Gospel" proclaimed by Yeshua
through literal study of the New Testament. The Gentile Greek Christians
who produced the biblical gospels lived three generations after Yeshua,
were in conflict with the original Jewish Messianic congregations
established by Yeshua's talmidim or "disciples," and were
proclaiming the Gospel of Paul--who had never been a disciple of Yeshua
and, like the later Gnostics, based much of his interpretation upon his
personal visions and revelations. The Christian churches proclaimed a
Gospel about Jesus, a Heavenly Redeemer and miraculously begotten
Son of God, crafted in the context of Pauline soteriology. The historical
teachings and Halakah of Mar Yeshua
gave way to gentile Christian worship of Jesus as the Passover Lamb of
God who was sacrificed on the cross to expiate the sins of all who would
believe in his deity. The Christian Gospels have to be "unspun" using
proven scholarly text- and literary-historical methods if we are serious
about learning from the authentic Yeshua (Jesus) of history. Our students gain
basic literary-critical skills in recovering the historical Teachings of
Yeshua so that they can be studied, taught and applied to their own
spiritual walk in life. The focus, then, is not on Christianity, but on
authentic spirituality that can be applicable to any religious tradition.
In Home Temple
Ordination Studies we address all the legacy of Apostolic
Succession--Liturgics, Old and New Testaments, History, etc--but our focus
is upon the historical Teachings and practices of the Master Jesus as
scholars have been able to recover and understand them. Like Thomas
Jefferson, who created his own "Jefferson Bible" consisting only of the
sayings of Jesus from the New Testament, we reverence Mar Yeshua
not just as a spiritual teacher, but as the incarnate manifestation of
God's Word. It is important to note that bibliolatry--the worship of the
Bible as the literal Word of God--entered history only some 400 years ago
as a means for Protestantism to replace the ecclesiastical authority of
Catholic Apostolic Tradition. Today Christian biblical literalism and
emphasis upon "belief" in doctrine has replaced the Master's Halakah
or "way of walking" in life. In the modern world, the authentic
Teachings of Jesus can often be found better practiced in Buddhism and
other religions than in Christianity, and God's "Name" (Justice,
Compassion, etc.) more truly hallowed outside of Bible-believing
Christianity, especially by secular and non-religious philosophies of
conscience such as ethical humanism.
However, it must be clearly understood that although the Home Temple
respects all spiritual traditions and draws from them in an orientation
that is Kabbalistic and theosophical rather than conventionally Christian,
yet it is through
Mar Yeshua and his chosen successors that the ancient Priesthood of
Melchizedek has been transmitted to us. By being trained and initiated
into his authentic Messianic traditions, we are able to draw closer to all
Spiritual Masters for guidance and empowerment. Mar Yeshua was the
first-born of the New Humanity (Bar-Enash). He mediates spiritual
rebirth.
Yeshua demonstrated highest human spiritual potential in achieving not
only the
Qimah,
"Resurrection," or conquest of death, but Malkuth or
Co-Sovereignty with Godhead--the Abba--for all who follow. He thus established continuity
of consciousness and his living Bodhisattva presence for all who would
strive to evoke the Messianic evolutions of the New Humanity and the New
World. We reverence him as a Master of Masters, we serve under his
protection and guidance, and we gratefully draw upon the riches of human
spiritual striving transmitted through the lineage of the historic
Apostolic Succession of the Master Jesus, as well as those of of world
religions.
Therefore the prime requisite for affiliation with the Home
Temple is
unequivocal reverence for the Master Yeshua.
THE
HOME
