Jesus son of a whore
Jesus, son of a whore. I will not expose just where I heard that one.
I think it is appropriate that on this day when so many people celebrate the birth of Jesus that I ramble a little bit about him.
As a tie in I will point (to this) article where a Christian discusses the "Virgin Birth".
I will publicly state that I do not describe myself as Christian. From my understanding Christians "believe" that Jesus was God, and I am uncertain, so I must not be a Christian. Also, I do not think that even if I believed Jesus was God, if I was honest with myself, I would have to admit I am still unworthy of calling myself a Christian.
So was Jesus the "son of a whore" as some say? I ask so what? To my mind, if Jesus started out from such humble beginnings it only makes the "story of Jesus" that much more awesome. Jesus might not have been God, but if he was not, then he most certainly was the finest Jew to ever walk the face of this earth. While much evil has been done in the name of Jesus, you can not blame Jesus for this because that was not what he preached. How about at least giving him credit for what good that does exist ONLY because this MAN once walked on the face of our planet?
While atheists might scoff at Jesus being God, they can not deny the power and strength of Jesus. I dare them to even attempt to match Jesus in his achievements and his power to do so much good for mankind.
Me? While I am not a Christian, I love Jesus. While I am not a Jew, I call Jesus Rabbi.
Thank God I live in a country that grants religious freedom. At least here in America I will not be crucified for my religious beliefs.
Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy Hanukkah too.
I think it is appropriate that on this day when so many people celebrate the birth of Jesus that I ramble a little bit about him.
As a tie in I will point (to this) article where a Christian discusses the "Virgin Birth".
I will publicly state that I do not describe myself as Christian. From my understanding Christians "believe" that Jesus was God, and I am uncertain, so I must not be a Christian. Also, I do not think that even if I believed Jesus was God, if I was honest with myself, I would have to admit I am still unworthy of calling myself a Christian.
So was Jesus the "son of a whore" as some say? I ask so what? To my mind, if Jesus started out from such humble beginnings it only makes the "story of Jesus" that much more awesome. Jesus might not have been God, but if he was not, then he most certainly was the finest Jew to ever walk the face of this earth. While much evil has been done in the name of Jesus, you can not blame Jesus for this because that was not what he preached. How about at least giving him credit for what good that does exist ONLY because this MAN once walked on the face of our planet?
While atheists might scoff at Jesus being God, they can not deny the power and strength of Jesus. I dare them to even attempt to match Jesus in his achievements and his power to do so much good for mankind.
Me? While I am not a Christian, I love Jesus. While I am not a Jew, I call Jesus Rabbi.
Thank God I live in a country that grants religious freedom. At least here in America I will not be crucified for my religious beliefs.
Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy Hanukkah too.
posted by Little David at 12/25/2005 08:45:00 AM
4 Comments:
While much evil has been done in the name of Jesus, you can not blame Jesus for this because that was not what he preached. How about at least giving him credit for what good that does exist ONLY because this MAN once walked on the face of our planet?
Well, if you take that line of thought, then you cannot credit Jesus with the "good" he has done either because that is also not what he preached!
You have to divorce the man (yes man, not God) from the mythology. I do not credit the "mythology" or "value" of Jesus with the actual man. Any analysis of the history of the Christian church and Christianity will show you that whatever "Jesus the man" actually preached in the first century AD has almost certainly been lost through reinterpretation and other parties furthering their own values/agendas on his name.
Regards,
Michael Tam
Michael,
Have you ever taken time to actually read the Gospels? I promise they won't bite! Yes there is some hocus pocus you have to wade through, but stick with it to see if you will not agree with the morals spoken of in them. I do not know how you can state "that is also not what he preached" if you have not bothered to read the Gospels.
That is what I refer to when I talk of what the "man" Jesus preached. Stuff like "Turn the other cheek. Do unto others... Let he who is without sin...". What Jesus preached was "good", at least in my opinion.
As for "other parties furthering their own values/agendas on his name" I join you in criticizing them. However do not blame Jesus for these hypocrites. By the way there are some "good" Christians. They might not be "perfect" but they are motivated by Him they call Saviour to try and be "good". Occasionally a few of them even approach (but do not reach) perfection like Mother Theresa.
Even the "bad" Christians are motivated to at least do a little good. If they do no good at all they have to deal with "good" Christians preaching a little Jesus at them. If you think they are "bad" as Christians, just think of how "bad" they would be without Jesus involved in their religion!
I can quite simply tell you that yes, I have read the canonical gospels. I have read them, however, without some of the pre-conceptions that many Christians seem to have (which form the mythology).
The Jesus of the gospels is somewhat inconsistent in the stories. Let us not forget that Jesus himself did not write these gospels, but they were retold probably decades after the events. These gospels were specifically written for a Roman audience. What we take for granted now as the "teachings of Christ" is more accurately described as the teachings of Christ "according to Paul"... and if you read the history and documents of the time, especially the gnostics (which have been dubbed as non-canonical), there was much descent at the time with charges laid that the teachings of Paul were heretical insofar as they distorted the message of Christ!
Some very interesting stuff have been dug up in the Dead Sea scrolls. You should look up exactly how the modern New Testament came into being and why and how the four gospels were chosen. There were a great many more than four to choose from and the vote and debate in the Council of Nicea (??spelling) to form the "Bible" was far from unanimous. Gospels which were rejected / dubbed as "heretical" included the Gospel of Mary and the Gospel of Jesus! That's right, the words written by Christ himself!
The politics in the formation of the early religion of Christianity is convoluted and extremely interesting from a historical point of view. However, you should not assume for a moment that the current New Testament actually reflects the teachings of "Jesus the man". Yes, the mythology of Christ is powerful and "true" in a spiritual sense, but this perhaps is comparable to the parables of Classical Greek mythology or perhaps, even the "life" of Frodo Baggins in a modern day story in the Lord of the Rings.
Regards,
Michael Tam
I am aware there is some controversy about which "books" should be included in the Bible. The debate is interesting and lively, when you can listen in on it.
While you mention some "Gospels" that I have never even heard of (although I wonder if when you speak of the "Gospel of Mary" perhaps you mean Mary Magdeline?) the "Gospel" not included but which has gained the most traction is the Gospel according to Thomas. Thomas of ole "doubting Thomas" fame. Those who disagree with the Gospel according to Thomas have some pretty powerful arguments, and the arguments are not unreasonable.
While the accounts given in the "canonical" Gospels are slightly inconsistent, it is not Jesus that is inconsistent, only the accounts of what happened. No one was taping everything with a video camera so we have to rely on word of mouth.
I do not think the Bible is infallible. I do not even think the Gospels themselves are infallible (go back and read one of my first posts on this blog, back in Sept called "Jesus Exposed").
However I do understand that once upon this earth walked a "man" named Jesus. His message was so powerful that even after he was crucified, when logic would dictated that his "movement" would have been snuffed out, his followers where motivated to continue to spread his message. What was it about this "man" that so motivated them? What was it about this man that the "spark" he provided was nurtured into an inferno?
The Bible might be an imperfect history of the "man" called Jesus, but it is a dominating portion of the "history" of the man we have.
Post a Comment
<< Home