Posted on 04/17/2014 11:35:37 AM PDT by SkyPilot
Some were fishermen, sure, but he clearly had a few who were literate.
Those extra-biblical references don’t cause me any trouble at all. As I said, he probably DID exist and have followers. There are always charismatic men with followers about. David Koresh had followers. Stalin had followers.
At best we can say of Jesus: there are several records to suggest that he lived, he traveled about, he spoke to Jews, he was thought to be capable of ruling Israel, he was killed by political enemies, the end.
Most New Testament accounts are a garbled mish-mash that suggests a combination of attempts to make him the fulfillment of OT prophecy (probably included at the time) and later attempts to suggest his mission was something else entirely (probably concocted later.) That no one thought to expunge specific King of Israel referents at the time is explicable by remembering that those who compiled the Bible were not Jewish and probably didn't recognize the significance of certain elements (such as Joseph not being Jesus real father --see: Curse of Solomon.)
The more I read the Old Testament and then compare it with the New, the more I am convinced that Jesus’ disciples thought, during his life, that he was there to re-establish the Kingdom of Israel. After he died, the stories were taken up by later acolytes who may have thought he would yet return and protect them from the Romans. Finally, the stories were taken up by later readers and “re-interpreted” to fill current needs. Rather like liberals “interpret” the Constitution to say whatever they want it to say.
Right now, white liberals are the ruling power. I hate it, but it’s true. And black-on-black crime doesn’t fit their narrative.
Wow! Men who are atheists, believers and agnostics have studied these books for centuries and the vast majority of them would never come to the conclusions you have. Also, the very people in the bible who followed Christ did not have your understanding. You must have so much more awareness than all those scholars who have made it their life work to study and understand.
Apparently...
As a matter of fact, plenty of scholars have indeed come to similar conclusions, because my conclusions are not particularly controversial: I think Jesus lived. I think he was indeed intending on being the next king of Israel. I think he was murdered by political enemies. I think the legends that sprang up afterward are to be taken along with stories of Beowulf and Zeus. Remember, this was (and is) the Middle East. Look at them today. They think they'll get 72 virgins if they blow up a marathon in Boston. You're going to take their word for anything?
I know that is your opinion...it all becomes a matter of faith and where one anchors one’s soul...(though some modern thinkers might describe the process as the “kernel set of moral values around which one’s mental construct of reality and one’s own keen sense of one’s “I” centeredness become molded together into a personality matrix that acts and reacts towards other people and events in accordance to those inculcated values.
Nevertheless, what we know of Jesus’ words are written in the Bible we have. His words spoke of a mission to “seek and save that which is lost; even to the point, if only one of his sheep was missing, he would have given his life for that one sheep. He said in the words that are found in this Bible you doubt so much...”I am the Good shepherd...and I lay down my life for my sheep...”
So much for Pharisees and Earthly Kingdoms....
Thank you for posting Peter’s response “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” I thought about that while I was driving home just now. It is sort of surprising to me on this thread that some think that Bono’s courageous (and let’s face it.....to declare Jesus the Christ and Son of God today is courageous) response as timid, half hearted, incorrect, or misleading. On the contrary, Bono gave the same response as Peter did, and Jesus lauded him for it ,saying it was revealed to him from God.
Thanks for posting those.
How kind of you. Thank you as well, and Happy Easter.
If you want to believe in a bunch of handed down stories from the Middle East that was tweaked by Italians, and then revamped by an English king, go ahead, I mean... it doesn’t really matter. The nice thing about Christians is they don’t fly planes into buildings. I started out simply pointing out to one poster that there were more possible explanations for Jesus’s life than TRUTH or MADNESS. The most likely explanation is that he was a political figure murdered by political enemies whose story then became fodder for various legends. You like those legends? Have at it. It’s better than Islam, at least. Now there’s some crazy.
Could be years of being pals with Jesse Helms may have influenced some of his beliefs or at least opened his mind some.
He’s always seemed to be a thinking guy to me.
Just curious (and I won’t take it personal if you don’t want to answer) what is your take on the OT?
Collection of stories from the history of the Jews?
TY for responding, A_Perfect_Lady.
Are you into science at all?
Too bad you didn’t watch the video.
Bono confessed his belief in the messiah, the son of God, and being God himself, as much as the Father.
.
Not particularly. Why?
Turn your sound up, he was very understandable.
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