which denomination... (Jesus, Earth, gospel, Kingdom, salvation)

[Mestemia]

I have been wondering which of the thousands of denominations would Jesus say He belongs to.

Since I cannot come up with an acceptable answer on my own, I thought I would ask those here what they believe and why.

[Scuba Pete]

In my humble opinion, he wouldn't belong to ANY denomination. He would simply gather the FFOF (faithful Few on Fire) to him and do things as he saw fit.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by PolyReverend

I have been wondering which of the thousands of denominations would Jesus say He belongs to.

Since I cannot come up with an acceptable answer on my own, I thought I would ask those here what they believe and why.

Hey, you're back.

I don't believe that Jesus would say that He "belongs" to any denomination, for the simple reason that He has no need to learn about himself and His teachings or worship himself. However, I do believe that He stands at the head of the Church He personally established towards the end of His ministry here on earth.

I'll bet you can guess which of the denominations in existence today I believe is synonomous with that Church.

[Terrywoodenpic]

I don't supposed Jesus is the least concerned about our denominations.
HE is only concerned about our salvation.

Terry
____________________________________
Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Terrywoodenpic

I don't supposed Jesus is the least concerned about our denominations.
HE is only concerned about our salvation.

Wouldn't it make sense, though, Terry, to believe He is concerned with them to the extent that they teach the truth about Him and His Gospel?

Just for the sake of argument, let's say that baptism is an absolute requirement for admission into the Kingdom of Heaven. If a denomination was teaching that baptism was unnecessary, wouldn't Jesus be concerned that those individuals who were affiliated with that denomination were being taught incorrect doctrines?

(Please note: I am not changing the direction of this thread and I hope no one else does. I am using baptism as an example only. It is not my intention to debate the need or lack of need for it.)

Let's take it a step further. Suppose baptism were not only required, but must be performed by one who held the authority to do so and must be done by immersion. Wouldn't Jesus likely be concerned about the many indivuals who were unknowingly being baptized incorrectly or by someone who had no divinely-given right to do so?

Obviously, if our salvation comes strictly as a result of belief in Christ's power to redeem us, denominational teachings and authority make no difference. But are you sure that these things don't matter to Him?

[Seyorni]

He would have been confused by the very question. He lived as a Jew and considered Himself and His followers nothing else. Perhaps He would have subclassified Himself as an Essene or some similar sect, but He'd probably be unable to make heads or tails of the myriad Christian denoninations.

[michel]

I would agree; as long as we love him truly, and have accepted to follow his teachings, labels becone redundant.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by michel

I would agree; as long as we love him truly, and have accepted to follow his teachings, labels becone redundant.

I don't see it as being an issue of labeling. I see it as being an issue of true doctrines and divine authority. And I do think these matter to Jesus. That said, I believe that the most important doctrine He taught was to love one another. I do think that if we love Him and love our fellow men, that's going to count for a lot.

[EnhancedSpirit]

Most people approach God through one lense, one spiritual path, one religion, one aspect of God and do not see God in all ways.

The most important thing to understand is that Christ is not a Christian concept! It is non-denominational. All religions and all spiritual paths and all inner plane Ascended Masters are striving to become the Christ on higher and higher levels. The Christ in terms of a pure definition is the perfected blue print or model for the perfect Son and/or Daughter of God. The purpose of life is to become an Integrated Christ.

“Realize the Christ!” You are already the Christ regardless of your religion or spiritual path. This is called the Heavenly Ideal. In truth or in the Heavenly Ideal everyone is equal. We all share the same identity in Christ. However, all are not equal in terms of the “Realization” of this great truth.

[Aurelian]

It seems Christ is a synchretized Pagan god molded with the Hebrew god, whose various sects developed doctrines for him later on...

Constantine the Great thought Christ was the incarnation of the Imperial Sun, and so he tried synchretizing the two movements and religions, especially to end the strife between the two, so maybe that's where Christ gets his divinity. There is also a big influence from the Mithraic and Isis mysteries who practiced much the same rituals as Catholics do. Constantine also had prophetic visions and conversations with the Sun and Christ being the same God. He didn't think it was the Hebrew god either. Anything is possible!

I personally think Christ was just a man deified by people who thought he was a god or holy prophet. Things like that happened all the time back then you know. Read about the Emperor Hadrian and the youth Antinous, a friend of the Emperor who mysteriously disappeared/drowned in a river, and was deified because everyone thought Antinous was a god for performing such a threatening act...

Think about it now....Ok Jesus died on a cross for all his people he gathered together, to strike some big revolution in Judea and across the world....the people could have seen this as such a heroic act that they thought his spirit was raised to heaven and they deified him as Son of God. See? stuff like this happened all the time!