Maybe the messiah has not come yet because the chosen people have not lived up to the task and when they do they may find the messiah was there all the time, inside of each individual.

Sooner or later another and greater John the Baptist is due to arise proclaiming "the kingdom of God is at hand" — meaning a return to the high spiritual concept of Jesus, who proclaimed that the kingdom is the will of his heavenly Father dominant and transcendent in the heart of the believer — and doing all this without in any way referring either to the visible church on earth or to the anticipated second coming of Christ. 170:5:19

Thank you 001

Glad I'll avoid being torched.

Seriously- paradise on earth is very synonymous with an age of light and life that I believe all religionists crave. On the other hand, we can make life here a living hell if we secularize ourselves like is happening right now to some degree.

Either way it will take a group effort.
I cannot visualize one person making it happen.

I don't believe in hell either but evil and sin are real and will bring about the non-existence you refer to if embraced.

Personally I thought parts of part 4 of TUB did much to help my understanding of the Old Testament that is more rewarding than the stand alone OT.
What do you think?

I haven't read a lot of Part IV, but what I have read makes me inclined to disagree. This is because much of it is written in a manner that, in my opinion, contradicts much of traditional Pharisaic Judaism that later became what we know as Rabbinical Judaism, ie, the form of Orthodoxy that is used today. It also seems to portray, the Sadducaic and Priestly authorities in a bad light, when in fact it was the Romans who wanted the man dead. Historically speaking, if we had wanted him dead, it would have been very easy to accomplish without getting the Romans involved except to get permission from the Governor. Jews were the only nationality in the Empire that had permission to exact capital punishment for violation of their own Law, provided they received permission from the Roman Governor of the place, which was almost NEVER refused. There would have been no logic in turning him over to the Roman Imperial State for execution, when it could have been done quickly and quietly by themselves. This of course is the same problem I have with the NT.

There is one other problem. The so-called "Cleansing of the Temple" in both books is completely unrealistic. The Temple had a Roman Imperial Guard around it (probably Legionaries or Praetorians) who were doubled, sometimes even tripled, on festival days. Are you going to tell me that Jesus went to the Temple during the Passover time with a whip, a cat-o-nine-tails as they were commonly called, and began to whip the money changers and overturn the tables, and generally make a royal mess, and interrupt a center of commerce, and cause a complete disaster, and risk causing a riot, and said guards were not going to turn him into Swiss Cheese within 30 seconds? PLEASE!

So, yes, I do question a considerable amount about anything I read about Jesus, from any source, to be quite honest.

As an X Mormon I can say with confidence that a personal relationship with God as the only true religion comes easy for some and others just need to hold onto stuff that makes them comfortable.

The religions of the world can be a challenge.