Terrywoodenpic
Oldest Heretic
There have been a lot of questions recently about the nature of religion, the one true faith, the inerrancy of the Bible, and what follows death.
I think a more fundamental Question is that of how religions start.
One of the common questions when it comes to the Abrahamic religions is how or who started them. And is there a significant difference between those factors.
I suppose we can be reasonably confident that Abraham started, at least in the Middle East, the Idea that there was only one single God. At the very least he was the most successful in having his belief adopted by others.
How ever it was not Abraham but Moses who did most to establish the law and strengthen the Jewish faith. It was he who showed the tablets from God and routed out the spreading worship of Idols amongst his people.
Moses is also credited with writing many of the books of the Old Testament, Moses can be considered to be many things, Leader, prophet and the one who put the Jewish faith on a solid footing.
Jesus came along and he was none of these things.
He was not a leader of men in the conventional sense, He did not establish any laws as for a new religion, and he did not even recognise himself as part of a new religion. He spent much of his religious life as a moral teacher. He did this amongst a people who held quite different views on the interpretation religious life and laws to himself.
He regarded himself as speaking as a son of God, to all men not just the Jews.
Mohamed, again was totally different; he became a powerful leader, he was a leader both in a moral religious and a military sense. He too was a teacher speaking the words of God. It was he who codified his religion in the form of the Koran. He was in every way the founder of the Moslem religion.
The Christian Religion was not founded by Jesus, it was founded on his life and work and teachings, by others. The founding of the Christian Church was very much the work of those that followed..
Perhaps the most effective in this was Paul, a man who never even met Jesus, who obtained all his knowledge second hand or through Inspiration. Unlike most followers of Jesus he was a mature and well educated man, used to positions of authority and with strong organizing ability. It is not surprising that even to day his teachings dominate the Christian Religion; Whilst Jesus remains the focus.
Since that time all three Abrahamic religions have been pulled in to differing directions by learned men, forming sects and denominations.
Most denominations, if not all, can point to a founder, with either political or religious convictions who was prepared to upset the status quo; even to the point of self sacrifice or more usually the sacrifice of others.
The LDS differ to the norm, in as much as they have a founder who had a direct message from God transcribed in written form. This is far more like the leadership shown by Moses and Mohamed than the leaders of most denominations or sects.
It could be justified in that it is seen as a rebirth or continuation of the early Christian Church.
To my mind the fact that Jesus did not found a Church, but that he was recognised by his followers as divine, gives a whole different religious status to Christianity.
That there are so many versions of Christianity, demonstrates the perversity of man, rather than the wishes of Jesus.
I think a more fundamental Question is that of how religions start.
One of the common questions when it comes to the Abrahamic religions is how or who started them. And is there a significant difference between those factors.
I suppose we can be reasonably confident that Abraham started, at least in the Middle East, the Idea that there was only one single God. At the very least he was the most successful in having his belief adopted by others.
How ever it was not Abraham but Moses who did most to establish the law and strengthen the Jewish faith. It was he who showed the tablets from God and routed out the spreading worship of Idols amongst his people.
Moses is also credited with writing many of the books of the Old Testament, Moses can be considered to be many things, Leader, prophet and the one who put the Jewish faith on a solid footing.
Jesus came along and he was none of these things.
He was not a leader of men in the conventional sense, He did not establish any laws as for a new religion, and he did not even recognise himself as part of a new religion. He spent much of his religious life as a moral teacher. He did this amongst a people who held quite different views on the interpretation religious life and laws to himself.
He regarded himself as speaking as a son of God, to all men not just the Jews.
Mohamed, again was totally different; he became a powerful leader, he was a leader both in a moral religious and a military sense. He too was a teacher speaking the words of God. It was he who codified his religion in the form of the Koran. He was in every way the founder of the Moslem religion.
The Christian Religion was not founded by Jesus, it was founded on his life and work and teachings, by others. The founding of the Christian Church was very much the work of those that followed..
Perhaps the most effective in this was Paul, a man who never even met Jesus, who obtained all his knowledge second hand or through Inspiration. Unlike most followers of Jesus he was a mature and well educated man, used to positions of authority and with strong organizing ability. It is not surprising that even to day his teachings dominate the Christian Religion; Whilst Jesus remains the focus.
Since that time all three Abrahamic religions have been pulled in to differing directions by learned men, forming sects and denominations.
Most denominations, if not all, can point to a founder, with either political or religious convictions who was prepared to upset the status quo; even to the point of self sacrifice or more usually the sacrifice of others.
The LDS differ to the norm, in as much as they have a founder who had a direct message from God transcribed in written form. This is far more like the leadership shown by Moses and Mohamed than the leaders of most denominations or sects.
It could be justified in that it is seen as a rebirth or continuation of the early Christian Church.
To my mind the fact that Jesus did not found a Church, but that he was recognised by his followers as divine, gives a whole different religious status to Christianity.
That there are so many versions of Christianity, demonstrates the perversity of man, rather than the wishes of Jesus.
It seems to me that most Christians, regardless of denomination, believe that they belong to the Church Jesus Christ established.
