SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 4, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The life of Jesus Christ has long been debated among scholars and theologians of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Some believe wholeheartedly in the Bible, while others contend that Jesus was a historical figure, but not a messiah. Jaded Ben Murshed has written a definitive book on the subject, Jesus and the Expected Messiah (now available through 1stBooks), which analyzes the life of the historical Jesus and the one portrayed in the Gospels.
"This book offers a new theory of the historical Jesus. Jesus was a living spiritual master of the highest order in his own time ... The historical Jesus had nothing at all to do with the Christian Church with all its varieties," Murshed says.
Jesus and the Expected Messiah examines and compares Jesus as depicted in the Christian faith and in historical records. The book describes how the historical Jesus was basically a prophet spreading the word of God, rather than a messiah, divinely conceived and born as the actual son of God. According to Murshed, many aspects of Jesus' life were changed to prescribe to early Jewish scripture of the Torah and later, the Old Testament. He also examines Jesus' role in the Quran, which holds a differnt account of his life than that written in the Bible.
"In searching to know the real master in the gospels, we need to study his teaching and ignore completely the story of his life, which after his crucifixion was constructed 'according to the Jewish scriptures.' The story of Jesus in the Quran is told according to the noncanonical gospels. The Quran repeats the same known myths about Jesus as historical fact," Murshed says.
Jesus and the Expected Messiah toils through centuries of theological studies, traditions and holy texts to make a clear distinction between the historical "great spiritual master" and the son of God praised in churches across the world.
Murshed has a Christian background and says he is a disciple of "a perfect spiritual master." Jesus and the Expected Messiah is his second book. His first book, Jesus and Reincarnation (also available through 1stBooks), was published last year.
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