Note: Ironically, this unpublished article, written over ten years ago, seems far more pertinent today, especially with so much completely unnecessary violence on the horizon.
Studying the Dead Sea Scrolls as well as various passages in the Gnostic Gospels, I kept running across the term The Perfect Man. To Christian scholars, of course, the term referred to the human form of Jesus. To various pre-Christian and other Messianic Jews of the time, it represented Adam, the first man who later tainted his perfection with imperfect acts. It is quite possible that both groups were awaiting someone, perhaps perfect, perhaps not, from the seed of David, to be anointed as King to save them from the hated Romans. What followed was a series of messianic hopefuls, each anointed (the actual meaning of mashiach, the Hebrew version of the Greek Christ) by their followers as Davidic King. It is no coincidence, of course, that the majority of these messiahs originated from Galilee, that they were considered to be what the Talmud referred to as Notzrim, people descended from a branch or shoot of King David. This also included Yeshua ha Notzri, later mistakenly referred to as Jesus of Nazareth, a town's name that, ironically, seems to have originated some years after his death.
You may ask why should this concept of The Perfect Man be more than a footnote in history? Why is it important? The answer, as always, lies in our perspective. Consider the time-honored concept of the anthropomorphic god. Traditionally, we are taught that, early on, primitive man conceived of gods as beings much like themselves, fighting with each other, loving, hating, lusting, jealous, eventually even forgiving and compassionate on a good day. Some cultures, like those of many American Indians, developed a more ethereal view of the nature of things. They saw a world of spirits guiding everyday life; in a way, a forerunner of the concept we refer to as forces of nature. Their gods were not anthropomorphic. Meanwhile, various cultures, notably the Babylonians and even the early Canaanites, began to develop impressive ethical codes of conduct as early as three or even four thousand years bce. They did not, however, always attribute these same ethical guidelines to their gods. Perhaps one of their favorite gods was a god of wisdom, mercy or fairness, but he could not control other gods, even though they were his relatives, perhaps even his own children.
What is all too obvious, is that in the evolution of what we call ethical monotheism the ethical parts, including compassion, forgiveness, love, even tough love, are not learned from the deity. These are all human qualities, indeed the very best of our human qualities, attributed like our greatest riches to the ideal god that we pray exists. Whether the living, breathing Jesus was perfect or not, to a majority of the population he represents The Perfect Man. I do not believe that anyone can honestly dispute this fact. Unfortunately, when Paul carelessly substitutes his Christ Jesus everywhere he can in the Old Testament for G-d, he is substituting his perfect human being in place of his concept of a quite imperfect god. The New Testament deity like the Old Testament version still metes out justice capriciously, is still jealous, kills his own creations, could certainly use more counseling from Moses, and still puts fear in the hearts of even his most ardent followers.
To most of us, religious or not, the great truth of the universe is academic, because we set our standards, meet some of them, fall short of others and resolve to try again. If we believe in G-d, do we really believe in a capricious self righteous egomaniac whose arbitrary dispensation of grace, the greatest fault in a human king, is the only thing that can save our immortal souls? Will a hateful monster like Martin Luther be saved because he believed in whatever psychotic drivel he believed and Mother Teresa or Albert Schweitzer not be saved because they had legitimate doubts?
Beware of perspective rearing its ugly head. Remember the old saying that imitation is the greatest form of flattery? Well, in the case of religion, emulation is the greatest form of worship. The Good News, of course, to Believers, is that there He is, Jesus in the flesh, the Perfect Man. He, himself, spelled it out for us. Love your neighbor, give to the poor. Give up your possessions to the community, taking only what you need. The [corrupt] rich man has as much chance to be saved as a camel (more accurately translated heavy rope) fitting through the eye of a needle. He goes on despite the impending danger to himself and his true followers. The Bad News, of course, Paul's concept of Christ Jesus, the magnificent human he transforms into G-d, is relegated to the disappointing role of a typical deity, capricious and arrogant, sitting on a throne like any other humanoid king, dispensing justice through grace instead of merit, watching his subjects groveling before him, heaping riches and wealth on the altars of houses of worship and into the sagging pockets of evangelical elixir salesmen.
Is it any wonder that we have an entire political party so afraid of scientific knowledge, afraid of what the American Indians already understood some ten or twelve thousand years ago, that spirits, or some sort of divine force or forces, manage the universe, that we are potentially magnificent products of those forces and that we need to be the stewards of the gifts we have been given, not necessarily the owners? Perhaps they are afraid to find that by the design of a credible G-d, the natural evolution of these ancient forces developed into what we call the human spirit, or, as the Buddha or the Gnostics or the wonderful Baruch Spinoza might have called it, the collective soul. One thing is certain, emulating Moses, Buddha, Confucius, Spinoza and especially Jesus, does not fit in with their political agenda and their psychotic quest for the concentration of such inordinate wealth and power in the hands of so few at the expense of so many of their fellow human beings.
Al Finkelstein, 12/25/14 (updated 2/18/18)
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