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Manly P Hall

The Teacher of Righteousness Excerpt with Manly Palmer Hall Part II

We are pleased to bring you part II of The Teacher of Righteousness with Manly Palmer Hall.  You can continue to explore some of the most fascinating and little-understood aspects of myth, religion, and philosophy.  Continue the story…..

“Perhaps the nearest text we have today to certain fragments in the Dead Sea finds, the nearest text that we have is the Codex Nazareth or The Book of Adam. This was the ancient text of the Nazarene sect. Now, Jesus was suspected of being a Naza. Certainly, he was a man out of Naza. He is said to have been recognized as a Naza because of those garments he wore and because he did not cut his hair or beard, which was part of the obligation of this sect. But, there can be no doubt that the Nazarenes did have a rather highly involved and complicated doctrine, and here again, it is something that is a little difficult for us to understand today in the light of a totally different perspective.

Usually, today, when a sacred book or religious writing gains prominence, it is because it is backed by a powerful organization or because it is accepted by a very large group of our people. Thus, a sect may arise in our modern world, and before it gains authority it must have a million, 2 million, 5 million or 10 million followers. Then, it becomes socially significant. In those days, some of the most brilliant names that we have, outstanding names, and leadership of world thoughts, consisted of groups of 100, 200, 300 people. They have been preserved in history ever since, but they were never large groups. We know that the esteemed community was a very small group. It is very questionable if, during his lifetime, Plato reached 200 people, and yet the effect of his work gained a tremendous permanence.

On these grounds, therefore, when speaking of the Nazarene sect, we are not speaking of something of vast numerical strength. We are speaking of a very strong, small group functioning locally in secret and leaving behind them one sacred book, which has however survived, although comparatively unknown. And, so far as we know, no previous edition is available in English, yet this book, in many respects, gives us a key and clue to some of the Dead Sea material.”

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