“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(Readers of The Seth Material had asked Seth to elaborate upon data of the three Christs given in Chapter Eighteen, “The God Concept,” of that book. Some wanted to know if one of the three Christs could have been the Teacher of Righteousness; this personage was the leader of the Zealot sect in Judaea early in the first century A.D. There were four known Jewish sects flourishing there at the birth of Christianity.

(In the literature I’ve been reading on the subject, the Zealot leader was always called the Teacher of Righteousness. The interpretation of scanty records, including the Dead Sea Scrolls, has given rise to debate, but it appears he was either Menahem ben Judah, who was killed in A.D. 66 in Jerusalem, or a nephew, who survived and succeeded him.)

One small note for those interested. The Zealots, the sect, were also divided into two main groups, one splitting finally from the other main one. Other documents will be found that will clear several important matters concerning the historical times. (Pause.) During one short period of his life, Paul joined a Zealot group. This is unknown. It has not been recorded.

In fact, for a period he led a double life as a member of the Zealots. He turned against them vehemently, however, as he was later to turn against the Romans to join the Christians. Before his conversion, he knew he had a purpose and mission, and flung himself with all the passion of his being into whatever answers he thought he had found.

(Of course, we hadn’t known just how Seth was going to present his material in the chapter on religion on the third Christ and related data. Both of us were surprised to hear him declare a connection between Paul and the Zealots. Many questions automatically came to our minds; but we had to stop somewhere, so we reluctantly decided not to ask them.

The Romans had no clear idea of the number of Jews in Rome at that time. They went by guesswork. The bells on donkeys belonging to the Zealots had upon them the symbol of an eye (Jane, as Seth, pointed to one of her eyes). They came secretly into town, hiding as much from other Jews as from Romans. They were good bargainers and often did me out of more than I deserved to lose.

(Pause at 10:28. Jane’s pace had been slow. The four major Jewish sects known to flourish in the Holy Land at the beginning of the first century were the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Zealots and the Essenes.)