Wed 12 Jul 2006
"Jesus versus who?" you're probably rightly asking. Here's some info about Adi Da (real name Franklin Albert Jones, aka Da Free John, Bubba Free John, Da Loveananda, etc):
Adi Da is the charismatic and controversial leader of the Adidam movement. … His original community was known as the Dawn Horse Communion, then the Crazy Wisdom Fellowship, and it has had several other titles … Adi Da claims to be God incarnate and says he was born into a fully enlightened state … [He] pursued Eastern religions [after college] … His followers believe he dwells in a state known as "Bright" [and that he] "is the only complete Incarnation of the Divine" … Ex-members have accused Adi Da of drunkenness, sexually abusing others, and living a life of splendor. … Funds are often raised through auctioning of Adi Da's possessions among his followers. In one auction the starting price for a Q-tip used by Adi Da was $108. (From the book Religions A-Z, James A Beverley)
Both Jesus and Adi Da claim to be God incarnate. Let's look briefly at just a few of the differences:
- Jesus performed public miracles. Jesus peformed many public healings, feeding of the 5,000, etc. Adi Da's "miracles", such as a "brilliant corona that stood around the sun for a full day", were not even observed at the time by his own followers.
- Jesus was not a hypocrite. Jesus practiced what he preached, and was considered sinless (1 Peter 2:22). Adi Da, however, has a very different interpretation of how he should act. Here's what Adi Da has to say about his behavior (which includes numerous sexual abuses, etc): "The way that I teach is not the way I am, but the way I teach. What I speak is not a reflection of me, but of you. … All that I do and speak only reveals men to themselves. Those who remain confounded by me, critical of me, have yet to see themselves." Sounds like hypocracy to me. Here's a transcript of an NBC report on Abi Da's lifestyle. As above, Adi Da has also been described by many ex-members as engaging in many immoral practices.
- Jesus fulfilled prophecies written hundreds of years earlier. Jesus was prophesied about in many passages such as Isaiah 53. No prophecies speak of Adi Da.
- Jesus lived an unselfish life. Jesus came from a poor family, had "no place to lay his head", and did not take special privileges above His disciples. Adi Da on the other hand lives a life of luxury in lavish mansions with fancy cars, while doling out only paltry sums to his followers who live with him. (See the previously linked NBC report.)
- Jesus died and lived again. The evidence for Jesus' resurrection is compelling. Jesus willingly gave up His life. As Paul says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
This is only a small sampling of the vast gulf that differentiates the two. All this said, we must be careful to note that Jesus was not "just a good man". As C.S.Lewis said, He did not leave that option open to us. Adi Da thinks (or at least tries to convince other people) that he is God incarnate … Jesus said the same, and backed up His claim.
More info on Adidam:
Official Adi Da Website
– Criticism: The Daism Seminar
– Criticism: Rick Ross Adi Da Page
3 Responses to “Jesus vs Adi Da”
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December 14th, 2013 at 4:50 pm
There is only one true God incarnation and that was Jesus Christ. Fortunately He warned us about false teachers and very powerful and deceptive teachings of demons. This is particularly part of latter day deceptions.
It is interesting that Adi Da could never imagine that he was an instrument of the devil, but he chose to ignore all the signs of demonic possession, by cleverly explaining it away as some sort of divine experience. He had horrible experiences and became more and more trapped by demonic entities to the point that even his devotees testified of occult experiences similar to Hindu Kundalini awakening and shivering because of receival of what I perceive to be the spirit of the anti-Christ. Satan cleverly disguised his own presence by not torturing Franklin Jones(Adi Da) as long as he received worship from his devotees. The devil therefore cleverly used Adi Da(Franklin Jones) by trapping him in dark emotions and eventually even manifested physical bodily contortions to force him to demand worship from his devotees. He trapped some rich and famous people as well through evil plots so that they had to support his lush life style and to build more places of worship like the Tat Sundaram hermitage. A rock band called "Live" was also connected to him and would have released an album called Tat Sundaram, but eventually decided against it through grace to call the album(roman numeral V). Adi Da died in November 2008. The lead singer(Ed Kowalczyk) of the band immediately broke away and released a solo-alum in 2009. He is today a self-confessed Christian although being a long time devotee of Adi Da. He has been persecuted for that by his own ex band members by law suits. Listen to what another Adi Da devotee(Cedar Jones) says about him on You tube. Ed really needs some support from Christians, since he is now a prime target and I think he sits with a lot of doubt and uncertainty. I would really like to see him being supported and hopefully that his ex-band members could see the wood for the trees and also turn to Christ and get saved.
December 22nd, 2013 at 9:14 am
Demonic possession
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December 22nd, 2013 at 2:19 pm
Great Website…
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