Is Jesus a Mythical Character?

[roli]

Sure it means something....it's the same stuff I used to hear at church for the 25 years I was a devoted Baptist.
I wasn't taking it as a personal attack at all. It's just that we were always taught to love the lord our god with all of our heart, soul and minds. You seem to think it's a bad thing to use your intellect and the wisdom you have gathered through the years to question who God is.

You may think hard and long about God and may even feel empty and unfulfilled and your, "will" may even drive you to seek, with your whole being, who or what God is, but ultimately,it is the spirit that is leading you all the way,from beginning to end.

I did'nt say it was bad, I said the scriptures don;'t say we come to God or comprehend the things of God by intellect, or reason. You may attempt to try to comprehend the things of God by intellect but it is the spirit that gives illumination
1Cr 2:12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1Cr 2:14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know [them], because they are spiritually discerned.

Also, you claim that the bible is not your only inspiration yet you quote it constantly.

It is'nt the inspiration of scripture alone, but the Holy Ghost is what connects me to the father through the word ,others, circumstances, experiences, but again, it is the work of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the only ,means that initially connects to God, heaven Christ etc
Jhn 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew [it] unto you.

My thought is that if there is a God, he's waaaaay too big to be limited through the definition of just Christianity. I enjoy using my mind to discover what other cultures have said about God. No use limiting who God is to the definition in one book.

Well there are many views of God, in actuality there are many Gods for that matter, not necessarily leading to the God of creation.

 

[Buttercup]

Nah, just a Horus/Krishna knockoff. Move along.

Don't forget to throw Zoroastrianism in there too. The Jews spent a good amount of time exiled in Persia and I think were greatly influenced by this religion. Zoroastrianism even foretells of a coming savior born of a virgin....funny how that shows up in later writings by the Jews.

 

[Katzpur]

Or did he actually walk the earth and do the things he claimed he did ?

Yes, He actually walked the Earth and did the things He claimed to have done.

And if he did, is there something we should be paying attention to?

Yes, everything He said.

 

[roli]

So God only wants fools and ignorants?

Don't we get enough of that mentality from mobs, like the KKK or Salem's witchhunt?

Belief without wisdom is a recipe for disaster.

1Cr 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important,

Can you discern,"why he chooses the foolish things"
It's not saying," the ones he chooses are foolish", but to bring to shame those things that the world considers important.
And alot of the wolrd espouses wisdom and knowledge as "important"

 

[Katzpur]

Christians that lived during the first few centuries would not even recognize or understand the churches we have today.

Well, I'll be damned. I never thought I'd see the say I could actually agree with the logician on something.

 

[doppelganger]

Yes, everything He said.

What if it makes me really, really happy to only pay attention to the things that can be distorted to make him look like a real jerk?

 

[roli]

Yes, He actually walked the Earth and did the things He claimed to have done.

Yes, everything He said.

Yes ,He did!!!!!
Jesus came for one reason, "to call men everywhere to repent"

 

[Katzpur]

What if it makes me really, really happy to only pay attention to the things that can be distorted to make him look like a real jerk?

Oh, well if we're talking about distortion, that's another matter entirely. People distort things I say all the time, and I don't like it one bit! I suspect that Jesus doesn't care much for it either. But, hey, it makes you happy to only pay attention to a distorted picture, you certainly don't have to ask my permission.

 

[Katzpur]

Yes ,He did!!!!!
Jesus came for one reason, "to call men everywhere to repent"

Uh... what about to atone for the sins who responded by doing as He said?

 

[gnostic]

Can you discern,"why he chooses the foolish things"
It's not saying," the ones he chooses are foolish", but to bring to shame those things that the world considers important.
And alot of the wolrd espouses wisdom and knowledge as "important"

But it really depends on what that knowledge or wisdom is about.

And the same thing can be said about religion. What the religion teaches as being "important" is equally not good at all.

Take one of the Ten Commandments as an example.

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

What is the wisdom and merit of punishing the later generation for what the father or ancestor did?

And what does a person who worship another god or join a religion that's not Judaism and Christianity have to do with "hating" God?

And what wisdom was it that God accept wager from Satan in Job? Does it prove that Job love God? Or only fear God? His answers to Job was not that of wisdom, but of braggart's.

 

[doppelganger]

That's the problem with worshiping the text found in "Scriptures" rather than God, gnostic. When God communicates his will directly to a person who has fallen for the blasphemous lie that the pages of a book actually contain the inviolate words of "God" then it's a short leap to blowing one's self up at a soccer game for some eternal reward one has been promised by the leadership of the same institution that has duped one into being an idolater and blasphemer in the first place.

 

[roli]

That's the problem with worshiping the text found in "Scriptures" rather than God, gnostic. When God communicates his will directly to a person who has fallen for the blasphemous lie that the pages of a book actually contain the inviolate words of "God" then it's a short leap to blowing one's self up at a soccer game for some eternal reward one has been promised by the leadership of the same institution that has duped one into being an idolater and blasphemer in the first place.

.
So are you saying, the bible is an idol and that those who study it ,read it, quote it and stand on it are blasphemous.

 

[doppelganger]

.
So are you saying, the bible is an idol and that those who study it ,read it, quote it and stand on it are blasphemous.

I'm saying that those who confuse it for the Word of God are idolaters. Those who judge themselves based on its content are also blasphemers. You can't pack the Living God into ink on a page, a bronze statue, or even ideas in your head. And when you think you have, you're engaged in idol worship.

 

[Charity]

I think you left out the most important part, hint, it's the reason Jesus came. Luke 19

Sorry I didn't realize you wanted me to quote the whole NT. I was only trying to condense my thoughts....I thought we were just discussing the fact that Jesus wasnt' mythical.....

 

[roli]

I'm saying that those who confuse it for the Word of God are idolaters. Those who judge themselves based on its content are also blasphemers. You can't pack the Living God into ink on a page, a bronze statue, or even ideas in your head. And when you think you have, you're engaged in idol worship.

Are you saying,Those who confuse the, "bible" as the word of God are "idolators"
Could you elaborate your position?
Are you referring to someone imparticular?

I understand that the scriptures in and of themselves don't grant life,atone for sins,save,declare one righteous or even forgive, but are you saying the bible is contrary to the word of God.
In a literal sense, I understand that the "word of the God" can be interpreted in various ways, one being as a literal word conveyed through either of the gifts, be it, prophecy,word of knowledge, word of wisdom,maybe even tongues.
But what are you saying

 

[Smoke]

That's the problem with worshiping the text found in "Scriptures" rather than God, gnostic. When God communicates his will directly to a person who has fallen for the blasphemous lie that the pages of a book actually contain the inviolate words of "God" then it's a short leap to blowing one's self up at a soccer game for some eternal reward one has been promised by the leadership of the same institution that has duped one into being an idolater and blasphemer in the first place.

I'm saying that those who confuse it for the Word of God are idolaters. Those who judge themselves based on its content are also blasphemers. You can't pack the Living God into ink on a page, a bronze statue, or even ideas in your head. And when you think you have, you're engaged in idol worship.

Somebody please frubal this man for me!

 

[Draka]

Somebody please frubal this man for me!

I would if I could

 

[challupa]

Somebody please frubal this man for me!

I think I can I think I can... Frubals for Dopp coming right up!

 

[Draka]

Is Jesus a Mythical Character?

Or did he actually walk the earth and do the things he claimed he did ?

And if he did, is there something we should be paying attention to?

Mythical? Mostly. Actually walk the Earth? Maybe. Even if a man named Jesus existed around the time that it is rumored he existed, it is highly unlikely the events told of in the bible actually happened. Oh, and "he" never claimed to have done anything...others claimed he did. As far as I know there is no book of Jesus in the bible last I checked.

If he actually existed and did the things attributed to him in the bible...then I'd say he was quite the hippie magician. Almost up to Criss Angel standard in his tricks.

 

[tigrers99]

Yes, Jesus was a historical person. He really existed as a human on earth for our sake. Yes, there was some interpolation done to the Josephus writing concerning Him. However, not enough to discredit Jesus. Josephus says, in his secular understanding of Him, that Jesus performed wonderous deeds (miracles) and that He was crucified by Pilot. That His brother was named James (the Just).

Jesus' enemies, the Jewish religious leaders, wrote very slanderous of Jesus. In their Babylonian Talmud they wrote a couple of very ugly stories about Jesus. They were careful to have Him crucified in a different community than Jerusalem, and added a parading around for 40 days before the crucifixion, and added a stoning to the story. Strangely, they quoted that He was crucified on the eve of the Passover. Years later, with the spread of Christianity, they added derogatory statements to Jesus' mother and 'step-father' . They add that Jesus performed His miracles via sorcery learned when He went to Egypt.

It looks like in the ancient Jewish leader's attempts to disprove Jesus....they actually prove Him.