SHOULD WE ADMIRE JESUS?

[Cobol]

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.

 

[George-ananda]

SHOULD WE ADMIRE JESUS?

I say 'Yes'. I admire a Jesus as a symbol of brotherly love and peace over the selfish egoist urges that plague mankind both internally and externally. I admire Jesus as a exemplar of living a better life and as one who sacrificed himself to teach us that.

 

[Vinayaka]

I opt for a third choice ... indifference.

 

[metis]

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.

Today, here in the U.S., I think if Jesus came into a great many churches incognito and preached like he did, they'd boot him out in a second as some sort of lunatic left-wing drug-induced hippie just spouting kumbaya-type love. Especially the fundamentalist/evangelical denominations would likely have the most trouble with his message.

 

[Kenny]

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.

It seems like your post is " biased, one-sided stories, emphasizing and inflating what they see as negative while subverting or ignoring the positive.

If one is honest, one must but bestow due kudos to the one who loved the unloveable.

How did you become so negative?

now... on a more civil note I find so much to learn from in the parables and the historical accounts that are written on the pages of the Gospels. Love, forgiveness, faith, steadfastness against religiosity and so much more

 

[Aštra’el]

I have many reasons to respect and admire Jesus.

I see Jesus as the embodiment of unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, humility, redemption, hope, salvation, and deliverance. While my own Weltanschauung for now hardly reflects these concepts, I can still acknowledge the strength, power, wisdom and beauty behind these things and the myths revolving around Christ.

I can also appreciate many of the more esoteric insights and symbolism behind the New Testament myths about Jesus' life, and I'd like to understand more in the future.

 

[metis]

I have many reasons to respect and admire Jesus.

I see Jesus as the embodiment of unconditional love, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, humility, redemption, hope, salvation, and deliverance. While my own Weltanschauung for now hardly reflects these concepts, I can still acknowledge the strength, power, wisdom and beauty behind these things and the myths revolving around Christ.

I can also appreciate the many of the more esoteric insights and symbolism behind the New Testament myths about Jesus' life, and I'd like to understand more in the future.

Well said and, as a Jew, I tend to agree with you.

 

[Kenny]

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.

Today, here in the U.S., I think if Jesus came into a great many churches incognito and preached like he did, they'd boot him out in a second as some sort of lunatic left-wing drug-induced hippie just spouting kumbaya-type love. Especially the fundamentalist/evangelical denominations would likely have the most trouble with his message.

I think there is some truth to this (although I wouldn't be so narrow on the type of the church that would find him that way).

People haven't changed, just names and faces. If we were to take the saying of Jesus on face value, he had the same problem with the Synagogues. With all respect to you!

 

[Cobol]

It seems like your post is " biased, one-sided stories, emphasizing and inflating what they see as negative while subverting or ignoring the positive.

If one is honest, one must but bestow due kudos to the one who loved the unloveable.

How did you become so negative?

now... on a more civil note I find so much to learn from in the parables and the historical accounts that are written on the pages of the Gospels. Love, forgiveness, faith, steadfastness against religiosity and so much more

I stated words from words from the Bible.

You need the Bible to learn about love and forgiveness?

 

[oldbadger]

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.

...so you had a fixed opinion at the start, yourself?
And you got quite a lot of your description wrong.

I admire Yeshua BarYosef, the man who would later become 'Jesus' the 'Christ' for Christians.

And I agree with him that good friends beat bad family.

But I admire John the Baptist just as much.

....just sayin'....

 

[metis]

I think there is some truth to this (although I wouldn't be so narrow on the type of the church that would find him that way).

But we do know there's some differences between denominations, right? When I go to my wife's Catholic church and then go to our friends' "health & wealth" church, the messages are quite different, especially on the general issue of what I previously posted. It's like "Are these even of the same religion?".

People haven't changed, just names and faces. If we were to take the saying of Jesus on face value, he had the same problem with the Synagogues. With all respect to you!

I hear ya, and synagogues differ as well, let me tell ya.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I worship Jesus, not just admire Him. You already have your opinion, obviously. You should learn what hyperbole and parables are, though.

 

[oldbadger]

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.

Today, here in the U.S., I think if Jesus came into a great many churches incognito and preached like he did, they'd boot him out in a second as some sort of lunatic left-wing drug-induced hippie just spouting kumbaya-type love. Especially the fundamentalist/evangelical denominations would likely have the most trouble with his message.

Very good post, imo!
I don't think that Yeshua would be very well received if he walked into many Churches. And he was committed to re-enforcing the laws which supported the poor so he'd be written off by many as a 'leftist democrat'!

 

[metis]

And he was committed to re-enforcing the laws which supported the poor so he'd be written off by many as a 'leftist democrat'!

Ya, when I put Jesus' and Trump's statements side-by-side, I think there's just maybe a difference or two or three or...

 

[Quintessence]

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.

It seems to me the question to ask is "what is the story you want to tell?" It seems to me that if someone wanted to tell an inspiring story, they would not focus on the negatives, as negative stories are usually not very inspiring (and frequently precisely the opposite). If you want to inspire things, you spin the tale to evoke good spirits and positive emotions.

Besides, lack of bias is impossible. Everybody and everything is biased. But if you are aware of the source material and what its biases are (or more importantly, what its intended purpose is and what its practical applications are), that can be kept in mind when assessing it.

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.

It seems questionable to frame this as a matter of honesty. Someone not agreeing with your personal interpretation of these things doesn't make them dishonest. That you do not see merit does not make this the case for others.

Truly, I'm a bit confused - if you do not value these stories, why spend your time talking about them at all? Negative attention empowers the tales just as much as positive. If you want these stories to die, stories are killed when people stop telling them or talking about them.

 

[Kemosloby]

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.

As I read it, when Jesus said "let him who has no sin cast the first stone" He meant himself. Even though Jesus did not cast a stone at that time, Jesus is the one worthy to cast stones when and if he does cast stones.

 

[Kenny]

But we do know there's some differences between denominations, right? When I go to my wife's Catholic church and then go to our friends' "health & wealth" church, the messages are quite different, especially on the general issue of what I previously posted. It's like "Are these even of the same religion?".
.

ABSOLUTELY!!

Although there is abuses in the churches , generally speaking, I see churches as showing a different aspect of God.

Like Abraham seeing God as Jireh and King David seeing an aspect of God in Rohi or Moses seeing God as Rapha

So different churches can express and see different aspects of the same God.

The Catholic church definitely has reverence down pat!

 

[Kenny]

I stated words from words from the Bible.

You need the Bible to learn about love and forgiveness?

There are different aspects and depths of love and forgiveness... don't you think? Or are you saying you have learned it all?

 

[Kenny]

Ya, when I put Jesus' and Trump's statements side-by-side, I think there's just maybe a difference or two or three or...

Just a tad!

 

[Cobol]

And you got quite a lot of your description wrong.

In the last few years, Christians have pushed a political agenda for the concept of "family values." Nowhere does the Biblical Jesus ever mention the phrase "family values" nor does he even mention the word "family." On the contrary, it appears that the life style of Jesus contradicts the concept of modern Christian "family values." According to the Bible as well as Christian apologists, Jesus never raised a family, and never married or fathered children. Clearly, Jesus had no personal experience of a family. Furthermore, the words of Jesus expressed variance against family members:



For I am come to SET A MAN AT VARIANCE AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND THE DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND THE DAUGHTER IN LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER IN LAW. And a MAN'S FOES SHALL BE THEY OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD.

-MATTHEW 10:35-36

Not only does the Bible claim that Jesus came to set man at variance against members of the family, but he demanded that anyone wishing to become a disciple must hate them:


If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:26

And Jesus reveals the bribe and reward for forsaking your family:


And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

-Mathew 19:29

There's a few...and there are many more.