SHOULD WE ADMIRE JESUS?

[Rational Agnostic]

You don't know that, and I would agree that the Bible is just one big simple fictional story.

I think the bible is a collection of both history and historical fiction.

 

[Kenny]

You don't know that,

Actually... we do.

and I would agree that the Bible is just one big simple fictional story.[/QUOTE]
In reality, it isn't

 

[roger1440]

What I honestly believe has happened is that a great many Christians have made Jesus in their own image so as to not fully follow what he supposedly said.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Don't forget the original:

(That was clever of you, if I interpreted your post correctly. )

 

[idav]

Christians have held the main character of the New Testament, Jesus "the Christ," in high esteem for centuries. Although we have no evidence that the Biblical Jesus ever existed, we can still examine the words of the Bible to extract the wisdom and morality of this character, regardless of whether he actually lived or not.

Does the Biblical Jesus merit the honor bestowed upon him? Unfortunately, preachers, ministers, and clergymen have given us biased, one-sided stories, emphasizing and inflating what they see as positive while subverting or ignoring the negative.

Unbeknown st to many Christians, many times the Gospels of the New Testament portray Jesus as vengeful, demeaning, intolerant, and hypocritical. In one section Jesus calls for love of enemies, yet in another to slay them. He tells others to not use hurtful names, yet he called others fools, dogs, and vipers. He calls for honoring parents in one verse, yet demands hate toward family members in another. Some of Jesus' words against his adversaries depict what some would call anti-Semitism. Indeed, the verses of the New Testament have fueled the flames of anti-Jewishness for centuries.

If one is honest, the realization will come that the deeds and questionable wisdom of this Biblical character does not merit the admiration that so many have bestowed upon him.

One of the things I admire about Jesus was his ability to go against the status quo. He argued several times with apostles for their bigotries. He was insightig revolution with his passiveness. Making God into a forgiving loving character rather than the one found in the Old Testament. Most people aren't able to follow his generally loving precepts and exemplified it in action, even without counting the miracles. Now I don't really expect Jesus to be perfect, that's for people who insist he was a sinless deity.

 

[JustWondering]

Christians have held the main character of the New Testament, Jesus "the Christ," in high esteem for centuries. Although we have no evidence that the Biblical Jesus ever existed, we can still examine the words of the Bible to extract the wisdom and morality of this character, regardless of whether he actually lived or not.

Does the Biblical Jesus merit the honor bestowed upon him? Unfortunately, preachers, ministers, and clergymen have given us biased, one-sided stories, emphasizing and inflating what they see as positive while subverting or ignoring the negative.

Unbeknown st to many Christians, many times the Gospels of the New Testament portray Jesus as vengeful, demeaning, intolerant, and hypocritical. In one section Jesus calls for love of enemies, yet in another to slay them. He tells others to not use hurtful names, yet he called others fools, dogs, and vipers. He calls for honoring parents in one verse, yet demands hate toward family members in another. Some of Jesus' words against his adversaries depict what some would call anti-Semitism. Indeed, the verses of the New Testament have fueled the flames of anti-Jewishness for centuries.

If one is honest, the realization will come that the deeds and questionable wisdom of this Biblical character does not merit the admiration that so many have bestowed upon him.

Most theists don't believe what they do because it's logical or makes sense. Most theists are theists because they were brainwashed since childhood to be their parents particular flavor of theist, like their parents before them, and so on, and so on....

 

[whirlingmerc]

I like how monkeys hunt shark eggs. I learned it from an atheist but when I look at it it looks like something God would do.

In South Africa at low tide the monkeys go out into the hemp area and pull out these orange eggs.... shark eggs... then scurry back before the tide comes in.... and some people say there is no God !

Is it logical? or part emotional?

 

[whirlingmerc]

Praising God is good for us and God deserves it. A good reason for evangelism... God deserves their worship.


CS Lewis said..

"The miserable idea that God should in any sense need, or crave for, our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who never met or heard of him, is implicitly answered by the words, "If I be hungry I will not tell thee (Psalm 50:12). Even if such an absurd Deity could be conceived, He would hardly come to us, the lowest of rational creatures, to gratify His appetite. I don't want my dog to bark approval of my books. Now that I come to think of it, there are some humans whose enthusiastically favorable criticism would not much gratify me.


The Joyful Christian

But the most obvious fact about praise — whether of God or anything — strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise — lovers praising their mistresses, readers praising their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game — praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, motors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians or scholars. I had not noticed how the humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious minds, praised most, while the cranks, misfits, and malcontents praised least. "

see Prayer of Praise - C. S. Lewis

 

[psychoslice]

I myself don't admire Jesus at all, to me he was a myth based on many other myths, there are some good myths within the stories, but then there are good myths in every story, I take what is helpful and discard the rest.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

How's it going, Jimmy?

I don't know what to make of that one.

I'm sorry, what was unclear?

 

[Kelly of the Phoenix]

There are things to admire, but there are also things to avoid admiring.

I admire Jesus for hanging out with outcasts. I admire Jesus' sarcasm and wit.

I don't admire his hypocrisy. I don't admire his bigotry. I don't admire his ignorance that turns certain parables into horrible stories.

I admire The Good Shepherd. I do not admire the King/Landlord/Father, all of whom either kill or otherwise neglect victims of the King/Landlord/Father's apathy.

 

[Fool]

What truth are you referring to? I guess we should just take this metaphorical thing one step further, and just say god is a metaphor too, and the whole thing is fictional, and the anonymous authors had their own agenda.

the books tells you that the protagonist teaches in parables.

par•a•ble
(ˈpær ə bəl)
n.
1. a short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.
2. a statement or comment that conveys a meaning indirectly by the use of comparison, analogy, or the like.



God is a metaphor for Love

1 John 4:8
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.