The Shack- Interviews with the Author- 3
Ξ April 26th, 2010 | → 3 Comments | ∇ Life |
If you would like to hear all of the interview, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/user/recycleyourfaith
No really, from where did the Jesus Story come?
Ξ April 23rd, 2010 | → 4 Comments | ∇ Life |
We would have to agree that there was an oral tradition concerning the Jesus story before there was a written one. That seems to be apparent. After all, it was around forty years before Mark wrote his gospel; then Matthew, followed by Luke and finally John (none of whom were eyewitnesses to the events of which they wrote). In dealing with the story of Jesus, a magical view of the gospels was developed by the gospel writers which asserted that the events of Jesus’ life fulfilled biblical expectations and prophecies in a miraculous, preordained way. This was simply not the case. The oral history developed first, within the synagogues, the only place the oral history of Jesus could have developed. We would find the followers of "The Way", with scrolls open, shaping and developing the story of Jesus, using Hebrew stories (liturgy) from the Old Testament as their guide. These followers were doing their best to fit the Jesus story into a "new" liturgy for the new faith using the "old" scriptures. The memory of Jesus was actually adapted to conform to biblical expectations. Hence, the prophetic connection to Jesus. This interpretative process created the story of Jesus as we know it today. In the process, both history and objectivity were compromised. This process was especially true in the gospel of Matthew, where Jesus’ story was crafted to fit a "new" liturgy (story) neatly into the Jewish liturgical year. The other gospels also exhibit the characteristics of having been formulated in accordance with Jewish liturgy.
By the time Mark wrote his gospel, an oral tradition about Jesus’ life was already established in the synagogues. All that was left for him to do was edit the story into his version of the significance of the life of Jesus. The other gospel writers followed suit. Each giving his own version of the story.
What was there about Jesus of Nazareth that caused his earliest followers to wrap the sacred history of their Jewish past around him and to "expand" the stories of their religious heroes until they were big enough to communicate to others what they had experienced in this Jesus? Why did those early followers see in Jesus the fulfillment of the traditions of the Jews? Why did they come to believe that Jesus had transformed those traditions? Why did his death come to be seen as a prelude to an expanded life? And finally, what was there about his humanity that opened their eyes to see God in a very different way?
These are questions which one could spend a lifetime trying to answer. One certainly wouldn’t be wasting his time if this were his goal.
From the Dalai Lama
Ξ April 19th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |
"Love and compassion are most important, most precious, most powerful, and most sacred. Practicing them is useful not only in terms of true religion but also in worldly life for both mental and physical health. They are the basic elements supporting our life and happiness. With practice they become effective and beneficial driving forces for life."
A Word from My Friend, Ernie
Ξ April 16th, 2010 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Life |
Most of the Christian religious communities have graduated from the fire and brimstone preaching of centuries past, most have even ditched the purgatory and eternal hell that’s insinuated, but not spoken. So, what’s to hold the evil doers from their evil deeds if there’s no fear of hell to keep people in line? What’s a church to do in 2010? How about the possibility of just LOVING people?
Okay, so God is LOVE, but what about the concept of JUSTICE?
Let me throw in my OPINION which is simply that as is yours. I see us having to completely review our life and stare into the eyes of those we wronged and know the pain that they felt. And then we’ll look into the eyes (metaphorical talk you know) of God and truly see for the first time what God’s unconditional love IS and every knee will bow and every tongue willingly confess that God-Creator-Light-Consciousness is the ONE!
Thanks for this bit of enlightenment, Ernie. Sounds very plausible to me.
~Ernie can be found at: http://www.lrchouston.com/
Give him a try!
Solid Proof That There Are Angels
Ξ April 12th, 2010 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Life |
My only granddaughter, Chloe, age 2.5
Worshipping Jesus is Idolatry?
Ξ April 11th, 2010 | → 4 Comments | ∇ Life |
It’s amazing how many Christians are not aware that Jesus was a JEW! Jesus was NOT a Christian! It was NOT the goal of Jesus to even start a religion. Jesus let his listeners know that he wasn’t doing any miracles by himself and in fact he got rather pointed (Mark 10:18) when he was told that he was a GOOD teacher and replied that “there was none good but God”!
And yet the orthodox side of the emerging Christian church decided Jesus was God! (Council of Nicea, 325 AD)
If Jesus knew anything it was , “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is ONE” (Deuteronomy 6:4). So, how was it that the proto-orthodox crowd got the winning hand and determined that Jesus was “very human-very God”. That will require a little investigation on your part. You will have to commit to researching a little Christian history. You might be surprised what you find. So, in fact, Christianity becomes Polytheistic. In fact, there isn’t just one or two Gods, but THREE in this determination which the "new" orthodox winners made. Thus Christianity labors today under the convoluted, highly unexplainable, TRINITARIAN argument.
Did the "new" orthodox group fear the monotheism of their ancestors or was it a definite anti-semitic bent?
Both Judaism and Islam hold that Christianity took a tragic turn when it cozied up to Constantine, and became embroiled in the “nature of God and nature of Jesus” (homoousios) debate. Finally, the "winners"decided in the fifth century (400+ years after Jesus died) that there were THREE GODS. And thus IDOLATRY was off and running- full speed ahead.
They seem to have forgotten the first commandment about worshipping “other Gods”; forgotten that the second commandment warned against iconic worship, which PROBABLY would include putting statutes and images throughout the churches, on dashboards of cars, around your neck, ad infinitum. Jesus never said WORSHIP me. He said FOLLOW ME! Jesus always subordinated himself to God as any good Jew would. Paul repeatedly made the point that God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus didn’t raise himself up. Jesus knew nothing of a “second person of the trinity”.
The early church fathers knew of no "second person" as well. It took more than 400 years to come up with such a idea. Jesus said "God is love" and he pointed everyone to the Kingdom of God which is within everyone (Luke 17:21). When we turn again to truly FOLLOWING Jesus and NOT church doctrines, creeds, and contortions, we just might be able to transform the world.
~This post is a liberal paraphrase of one found at: http://www.lrchouston.com/
I wanted my readers who might not read Ernie’s posts to get the benefits of this GOOD word. Thanks Ernie!
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