The Christian Thread

[starsgoblue]

Paul always bored me. Turned me off. It seems so many churches focus on Paul--when the real interesting part was in the Gospels. I think a lot of ministers don't like focusing on the words of Jesus because they are enigmatic. He questioned the status quo; he questioned the rules and the interpretations. The words of Jesus open up a lot of difficult questions and don't provide easy answers. They push you to search yourself, question yourself. He was anti rules. He gave just simple guidelines--simple in their philosophy, but complex in practice. He gave few clear answers. He mostly asked questions. That makes people uncomfortable. Paul was all about rules and interpretations as far as I can see.

Christianity would be wonderful if they never organized the religion. Stopped going to church forever ago. I still am driven by the questions, though.

Sorry if I missed this in earlier posts. (I'm a baby here.) But there are a couple of fascinating books for Christians and agnostics alike.

"God, A Biography" and "Christ, A Crisis in the Life of God" by
Jack Miles and "Reaching for an Invisible God by Philip Yancey.

I like the way U2 approaches the topic. They are not afraid of the questions, in fact they thrive on them, it seems.

I like your post....I look forward to seeing what you contribute....

 

[naxos]

NotAnEasyThing well said and done! datatyme you really don`t understand what your talking about, you really don`t. you haven`t studied the matters that you speak of. Their just off the cuff remarks! Why would i shoot off my mouth off about a subject that i have very limited knowledge on? whats the point?

 

[verte76]

As a practicing Catholic, I love the Bible. However, as a historian I don't use it for secular history purposes. I've read Josephus, Tacitus, and Livy, and use them for secular history studies. Notice I'm saying "secular". I also use secondary sources. To be perfectly honest it's been a long time since I read any ancient history, I'm more interested in medieval and Middle Eastern history.

 

[thacraic]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Carrie. I do understand the interpretation you are refering to, but it is also not one I personally subscribe to. I think there is a more obvious "face value" understanding of Jesus words.

The word translated "generation" (in Matt 24:34, Mark 13:30 & Luke 21:32) can also be translated "race". So as he was talking about signs of the end of the age, it seems to me this is either a reference to the generation that experiences the signs refered to, or that the Jews as a race would remain until this time.

I gave the reference from John 21:21-23 as an example of the way Jesus' words can be twisted to suit a certain interpretation. I'm sure you'd agree that it helps when trying to understand the Bible to do our best to look at it in it's overall context.

Yes I know what you mean. I really didn't word it correctly when I initially posted.

What I was referring to was the end times. Jesus said this generation would not pass away after he had told of several signs of His second coming. I sorta see that as His saying the generation that is around in that day would not pass away before it happened.

I do see it as being directed at the Jewish race, but I think it is to do with the nation itself. That is just one way of seeing it though.

I was in no way trying to counter anything you have said. I have agreed with all of your post here. Very strong and well worded statements.

Take care,

Carrie

 

[BonosSaint]

I like your post....I look forward to seeing what you contribute....

Thank you.

 

[naxos]

Historian, good ! what happend from 1000A.D. to 1500 A.D. why all that silence? You do realize that the historians you mentioned and that all authoritys quote have testified that they had Giants in their times and or bones of the Giants. So what happend to all this evidence? History is a limited science. Important yes but limited!

 

[Salome]

I believe Jesus would have made an excellent pope
the roman catholic church would have benefited immensely