• Questions
• Remarkable similarities
• Papal Encyclical “Faith and Reason”
• The Objectives of this book
Chapter 1: Modern Historical Research of Jesus and early Christianity
• From the Renaissance to Thomas Jefferson
• The Development of the Seven Pillars of Modern Historical Biblical Research
• Methodology and Findings of Modern Critical Biblical Scholars
• Were the Gospels Inerrant and Inspired by God?
• Two Portraits of Jesus: the Map of Relationships between the Gospels
• Rules of Written Evidence
• The Oral Tradition prior to the Gospels and the Rules of Oral Evidence
• The Distinctive Voice of Jesus
• The Unassertive Sage

Chapter 2: The Paradoxical Teachings of the Godmen.

• The Problem of Paradox
• What Did Jesus Really Do According to Modern Historical Research?
• Is Yoga a Religion?
• Yoga as a Philosophy
• Who Are the Yoga Siddhas?
• What is the Literature of the Yoga Siddhas and Their Teachings?
• Similarities between Jesus and the Yoga Siddhas and their Teachings
• The Yamas, the Restraints: Yoga Sutra II:30
• Was Jesus a Guru?Devotees versus Disciples
• Are There Any Differences between Jesus and the Yoga Siddhas?

Chapter 3: Gospel of Thomas: A Gnostic Text?

• History and Distinctiveness of the Gospel of Thomas
• The Gospel of Thomas: A Gnostic Text?
• The Kingdom of Heaven is Already Here
• The Hidden, Gnostic Heart of the Gospel of Thomas: Jesus as Initiator of His Most Worthy Disciples into Esoteric Knowledge: Gnosis
• Discounting Prophecy and its Fulfillment for our Freedom
• Who Am I?
• On Entering the Kingdom of Heaven
• Was Jesus a Gnostic?
• How to Realize the Gnosis, the Saving Knowledge?

Chapter 4: Early Christianity: the formation of the Church and its Dogma

• Paulism
• The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Essenes
• Early Doctrinal Issues
• Docetism
• Ebionitism
• Marcionites
• The Gnostics
• The Proto-Orthodox
• The Cultural and Political Factors which favored the proto-Orthodox
• The Rule of Faith and Creeds
• The Gospel of John versus the Gospels of Thomas, Matthew, Mark and Luke
• The Formation of the Proto-Orthodox New Testament
• Constantine and the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea

Chapter 5: What did Jesus Really Say?

• Reversing Natural Human Inclinations
• The Kingdom of Heaven
• On Entering the Kingdom of Heaven
• Why Should Jesus Say that Those Who are Poor, Hungry, Suffering and Persecuted are Blessed?
• On Purity
• On Worry, and Being Present
• On Aspiration
• Showing the Path to Others
• The Lord’s Prayer
• God’s Unconditional Love
• Forgiveness of Sins and the Karmic Consequences of our Actions
• Hidden Treasure
• The Good Samaritan

Chapter 6: What did Jesus not say?

• The Gospel of John
• The “I am” Sayings
• The Farewell Prayer
• The End of the World
• Jesus’ Dying Words
• At the Tomb
• Doubting Thomas?
• The Familiar Tenets of Christianity Cannot Be Traced to Jesus Himself
• Consequences of Christianity’s Replacing the Teachings of Jesus

Conclusion and Recommendations

Notes

Bibliographic References

Glossary

Appendix A: Index of Red and Pink letter sayings from the Jesus Seminar