Arjayel said
I came across this book and was surprised at the content as I had no thoughts about that relationship may be in a form of opposition. My own research (web browsing open lit etc) seems to lead to more attempts to explain how Paul’s theology was Jesus’s rather that juxtapose the two as different. Can anyone suggest good sources for this comparison, ie. that we actually are told to live Pauline Christianity and not what would have been Jesus’s Christianity? Did Paul actually replace Jesus as the actual theological head of the church in later years?  

Here’s something from the internet you might be interested in. ** you do not have permission to see this link **

I think it is important. The Mandaeans are the descendants of John the Baptist. Their religion is very similar to Christianity, but there are important differences. And it is complicated.

The important thing that has to be taken into account, is that John and Jesus were cousins, of the Nasoraean tribe. The Nasoraean tribe was very small, and so John and Jesus had the same tribal understanding, culture, and religion. You might consider that if you study the Mandaean religion, you will be studying Jesus’ religion because John and Jesus were family.

However, they are very different in that John’s religion talks about light, the light world, and the father, whereas Jesus’ religion talks about God (the father). “The Father” was taken from the Nasoraeans but the father and God are not the same.  The father means all that came from the light world, but was not originally called God (an entity). However, the word God is used more and more, as the Mandaeans have had to compromise themselves by using the “God” word in order to survive, and this is actually changing their religion. The Nasoraeans of the first century worshipped neither Roman or Jewish God(s). Moreover, the Mandaeans consider Jesus to be an evil priest who stole the secrets (a very negative attitude towards Jesus).

If you wish to understand further about the Mandaean religion, there is also a book titled The Mandaeans of Iran and Iraq by E. S. Drower published in 1938. She was the forerunner researcher, of which there are by now a half dozen or more. Her book goes into their magical practices. When she wrote her book, the Mandaeans wanted her to understand their religion and she lived with them for three months. They told her they had knowledge of a secret God. Their religion is very magical, they use magic. Magic is not the what we think. Magic means from the Magi who were the Wise Men of old, which means prior, going back thousands of years. The Wise Men were diviners, astronomers, astrologers, and “miracle workers” and had “The Knowledge” of things that the rest of the world doesn’t have. They have kept their religion from John the Baptist’s time and claim not to have deviated for 2,000 years. Do you see there might be a a preChristian religion going on underneath Pauline Christianity?

Stephen, you’ll have to talk to the Mandaeans themselves to get their history. Books have been written for hundreds of years, and assumptions are passed from writer to writer that are accepted as true but are not. The Mandaeans know their history and it goes farther back that the third century. They don’t recognize Jesus. Jesus is not in their holy books. To them, Jesus is a made up person.  In my opinion, Jesus’ name was put in place of John’s around the first quarter of the second century, and that’s why the Gnostic writings were Christianized. 

Personally, I don’t accept any of the Gospels as being true. Christianity is a god worshipping religion. John’s teachings weren’t. The only reason I spoke about Jesus in my former post was not to confused people, and to show two distinct beliefs…John’s and (purportedly) Jesus’, because I’ve run across several people who want to know about preChristian religion.

The original words out of John’s mouth were not “Kingdom of Heaven” or “Kingdom of God”, which are Roman words, but “king of light”, which means highest light where “king” is an adjective, not a domain or noun.

John taught how to use light with the mind. So, John would have said something like, “light world” or “king of light” and how to cause it to work in the physical body and mind, which is within the human ability to use it like one uses a method, whereas the Roman clerics changed John’s words by having Jesus say, “I am the light of the world.” There is a huge difference. One teaches worship, bowing down to, obeying, believing this God has judgment over the world and to do God’s bidding in order to go to heaven. The other is simply instructions about the use of light with the mind, or intention, or will.