Jesus without baggage

[Jainarayan]

And there's that baggage again:

"Here, Look! Inside this book, it says that those that possess and use this book, proclaiming themselves to be followers of Jesus, have earthly and heavenly power, so you can't even question them, because, if you do you're among those who have turned away from Jesus and his path if you were really a follower you wouldn't doubt or ask pertinent questions! Follow Jesus by following his self-accredited Apostles who are using their self-authored and self-accredited story of Jesus and his followers in the Gospels and the NT! You know it's true because it says so, right there in the text! So if you question, if you doubt, it's either YOUR FAULT for not being open or intelligent enough, or it's the DEVIL'S FAULT because he was able to deceive you into doubting and asking questions...

I'm playing Devil's Advocate here. Personally I find the Bible rife with inconsistencies and contradictions, and I do think it's meant to be cherry-picked. It was written over such a long time span, by so many different people addressing so many different audiences in so many different places, it can't help but be inconsistent. I think it's a matter of "something for everyone". If I were to take anything from the Bible, it would be only the "red letter verses", the actual sayings of Jesus. There is some good poetry and literature... Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, even Psalms to name three. The rest imo is added on and interpolated, seemingly with agendas. Of course, Hindu and Buddhist texts are also rife with inconsistencies and contradictions. But we're actually encouraged to question them. The Bible is to be approached without question.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

I'm playing Devil's Advocate here. Personally I find the Bible rife with inconsistencies and contradictions, and I do think it's meant to be cherry-picked. It was written over such a long time span, by so many different people addressing so many different audiences in so many different places, it can't help but be inconsistent. I think it's a matter of "something for everyone". If I were to take anything from the Bible, it would be only the "red letter verses", the actual sayings of Jesus. There is some good poetry and literature... Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, even Psalms to name three. The rest imo is added on and interpolated, seemingly with agendas. Of course, Hindu and Buddhist texts are also rife with inconsistencies and contradictions. But we're actually encouraged to question them. The Bible is to be approached without question.

Agreed! I wasn't really targeting you; I was really just responding to the fact that many in many religions, not just Christianity but that was the example you had cited, use passages in the text to justify acceptance of the text, and the power structure that is thereby reinforced by it.

 

[Jainarayan]

I wasn't really targeting you

I know.

 

[BilliardsBall]

Jesus doesn't exist, or he is dead , how can he love you beyond the grave, The Jesus Character depicted in the Bible was obviously not a lovable teddy bear character, since he invented the notion of Hell Fire and threatened people with everlasting hell fire torture. he is thus responsible for the existence of Islam.

You are saying several different things there, that underscore your attitude:

1) There is no resurrection of Jesus Christ

2) If Jesus is resurrected, how can He love me?

3) If Jesus is resurrected, I don't want His love, because He made Hell and Islam

Think carefully about your heart and attitude in light of the above, is my advice.

 

[David1967]

I found this whilst looking for something else earlier, and thought it was interesting. I've felt that my main reasons for leaving Christianity weren't that I couldn't accept Jesus as a potentially real historical figure or that I couldn't view him as a saving grace in my life, but rather the Bible and all of its outlandish stories, rules and dogma that detract from the beauty of who Jesus could be. I don't even know if the Jesus story was tainted, to be honest, by man's desire to control others through one, central religion.

Anyways, thought this was interesting, and worth sharing.

Jesus Without Baggage

Thanks for sharing Deidre! I went there and just couldn't help adding a post.

 

[Deidre]

Thanks for sharing Deidre! I went there and just couldn't help adding a post.

hahaha I just saw that.

So, do you think that the Jesus without Baggage blogger is ''wrong?'' (wrong not being the right word but couldn't think of the right word right now) I typed 'right', a lot.

 

[David1967]

Deidre, I recommend you reread the book of Romans. Go slow and think about what is being said.

We aren't saved because we follow religious rules; we're saved because Jesus lived those rules for us and died in our place on the cross, paying our penalty Himself. Living by rules has nothing to do with it.

I had to read Romans many times before I think I really started to comprehend and understand the entire book. Anyway, it is clear that we are not loved by God because we follow rules; He loves us whether we live good lives or not. It is the love of Christ that changes us, we cannot change ourselves.

You are correct David. Unfortunately there are some denominations which do turn simple faith in Christ into a Pharisaical rules game which does damage to the body of Christ.

 

[David1967]

hahaha I just saw that.

So, do you think that the Jesus without Baggage blogger is ''wrong?'' (wrong not being the right word but couldn't think of the right word right now) I typed 'right', a lot.

I was just there briefly, so out of fairness I will reserve opinion till I've dug in a little deeper. But concerning what I commented on there; It is IMHO ridiculous for the mentioned Sunday School teacher to say "God must have told David to do it since he did." Which led to my comment concerning Bathsheba. David, Moses, Jeremiah etc. All were prophets, yet still human and flawed.

 

[DavidFirth]

You are correct David. Unfortunately there are some denominations which do turn simple faith in Christ into a Pharisaical rules game which does damage to the body of Christ.

You're right, unfortunately. The apostles responded well to demands to have new believers circumcised. Unnecessary waste of time and money. They simply said no sexual immorality, no meat from strangled animals, no meat sacrificed to idols and no eating blood. Other than Christ's teaching, that's it.

 

[arthra]

I found this whilst looking for something else earlier, and thought it was interesting. I've felt that my main reasons for leaving Christianity weren't that I couldn't accept Jesus as a potentially real historical figure or that I couldn't view him as a saving grace in my life, but rather the Bible and all of its outlandish stories, rules and dogma that detract from the beauty of who Jesus could be. I don't even know if the Jesus story was tainted, to be honest, by man's desire to control others through one, central religion.
Anyways, thought this was interesting, and worth sharing.

The Bible I think is inspired and there are verses that to me speak to the soul and have resonance. You can also I think see the Bible in context.. that is, understand that the social conditions of say desert living in the ancient middle east could have been brutal and conflict ridden.. in that context, certain ordinances had more resonance and meaning.

So I think what I'm getting at is that you may feel you can easily dismiss the Bible as having "outlandish stories" and maybe ordinances that don't really relate to people today but that also can make them in and of themselves an interesting study and inquiry.

As to the Person of Jesus so much as has been written but in my view I've found some of the work of George Lamsa to be most insightful as he approach scripture from an Aramaic perspective. I also think much of the work of the scholars on the "Jesus Seminar" have been interesting.