The Authentic Jesus
STUDY GUIDE

Chapter One

1. What was the political and religious climate in Jerusalem and Galilee at the time of   
     Mar Yeshua?

2.) What is the essence of the issue that eventually led to the crucifixion of Mar Yeshua?

3.) Describe what Yeshua said are the first and second most important Commandments                   
      and how they are intrinsically linked. How was the practice of Korban a corruption of 
      the First and Second Commandments?

4.) What measure was used by Jesus to answer to the requirements of God?

5.) What were the disciples of Jesus originally called?

6.) Was the authentic Jesus more a Rabbi or a Prophet?

7.) In what ways were Jesus’ teachings in complete opposition to the “fundamentalist” interpretation of the Pharisaic scribes?

8.) What did Jesus mean by the word “hypocrite?”

9.) What did Jesus mean by his laughing at the Pharisees who would “strain at gnats and 
        swallow a camel?”

Chapter Two

1.)	Name several ways in which Jesus’ manners and customs as a rabbi were highly
unorthodox.

2.)	What were the three conditions Jesus had for discipleship?

3.)	Who were the Ebionim?

4.)	What did Jesus indicate was the source of his knowledge?

5.)	How did Jesus understand the term “elect” or “chosen?” 

6.)	What were Jesus’ three main conditions for discipleship?

7.)	What did Jesus mean by inheritance?

8.)	How did Jesus’ idea of eternity differ from the modern version?

Chapter Three

1.) What kind of mastery gave Jesus the ability to control the outer realities of wind, rain,
       water, vegetation and distant and proximal healing?

2.) What are the two ways that demon possession can occur? What do they have in 
      common?

3.) What things can close the person who is “sensitive to possession?

4.) What does “mebasrim” mean?

5.)	What was the method Jesus used to cast out demons?

6.)	How is a Daimon different than a Theos?

7.)	What are the two forms of possession?

8.)	What were some of the characteristics of the type of love that Jesus encouraged?

Part Two: The Prophetic Mission of Jesus

1.)	What does “rabbi” mean?

2.)	At the time of Jesus what were some of the different ideas about the coming of a 
Messiah?

3.)	What dilemma did the religious leader face when they asked Jesus under what 
authority did he preach? 

4.)	What is the prophet’s burden?

5.)	What is probably the charge the Sanhedrin made against Jesus?

Chapter Four: Judgement Against the Religious Establishment

1.)	It was against whom that the prophets generally delivered their judgements?

2.) How was       different than older prophets to obey?
	
3.) What was the symbololgy of the Baptism that John was offering?

4.)	How did the prophetic preaching of Jesus differ from that of John the Baptist?

5.)	Why did Jesus have          and dislike for the hypocrisy of making a “show” to give merit to the eye of the public?

Chapter 5: Submission and Faith

1.) How was Jesus’ proclamation of “Day of the Lord” different from Amos’ “Day of the               
      Lord” interpretation?

2.) What is the significance of the word              as given by the prophets?

3.) How would you describe faith as Jesus saw it?

4.) How would you define the word “faith” amen?

6.)	What can be done to prepare one’s heart to receive and nourish the divine impulses 
that are constantly coming from the divine?

7.)	What did Jesus mean by,  “Blessed is the person who has suffered”?

Chapter Six: The Gate of the Kingdom

1.) James the Just was whom in the early Jewish-Christian church?

2.)	Why was there a plot to kill him?

3.)	What was the gate of Jesus?

4.) How would humility for Jesus be described?

4.)	What is purgatory in the epistle of James?

5.)	Who was sometimes portrayed as the twin brother of Jesus?

6.)	Who do most scholars believe was the leader of Jewish-Christian churches after the resurrection of Jesus?

7.)	What is the most likely reason Jesus was called “The Nazarene”?

8.)	What is the reciprocal conventional relationship between God and mankind?

9.)	What did Jesus have to say about building merits?

Part Three: The Messianic Mysteries of the Kingdom of God

1.)	What were the three aspects of the prophetic mission of Jesus?

2.) What are the differences and the contributions of the Johannine and synoptic versions
      of the gospels?

3.) What two elements point to Jesus’ connection with the priesthood of Meldizelek?

4.) How would Jesus define the Divine Sovereignty of Yaheweh or the “Kingdom of God” and how did the Christian churches define it?

5.)	In what way were the prophetic thought of the prophets turned into an Apocalyptic 
future theology?

6.)	What tradition was Jesus drawing on when he taught he disciples techniques of divine 
Communion?

7.)	What does martyr mean in the context of the martyr-saint community of Daniel?

8.)	Who is the son of man in Daniel and the other early prophetic schools?

9.)	From what tradition did the Christian mass originate?

10.) What was the true sacrifice that the prophets valued? 

Chapter Eight

1.)	What is the significance of the term “Son of Man”?

2.)	Describe the different aspects of the trinity and it’s significance.

3.)	Describe the “Shalem” of perfect disciple.

4.)	Why is discipleship considered such a hard task?

5.)	What is the outcome of one who has succeeded?

6.)	What is a Qimah?

7.)	What was Adam if not the literal father of all peoples?

8.)	What is the ancient concept of purgatory?

9.)	Within the Communio Sanctorum, what was the nature of the relationship of God?