Tuesday, August 18, 2009
And What About Jesus?
There are several religions that tell you that if you do not accept their rules you will go to Hell. Two that come to mind are Christianity and Islam. I do not think that Jesus meant it to be this way. I don't know for sure about Mohammed. If you submit to this type of thinking, life's a gamble. Or, perhaps, the afterlife. Here's how I deal with it. Jesus was a Jew and thought a lot like the Pharisees. I don't see that he wanted to start anything new. He was trying to fix something old. There is nothing wrong with Judaism in its "caring about your neighbor" viewpoint. It allows that other religions are different ways of seeing the same God. Islam looks through Mohammed's eyes while Christianity looks through the eyes of Paul. I'll bet you thought I was going to say Jesus. Christianity is as different from Jesus, though, as Zen Buddhism is from the real Buddha. The question here is: Was Jesus God? I don't know. All we can do is to try to gather all the information we can, study it, and make a judgment. Most people never do this because they are afraid they might have made the wrong choice in these very confused days. Isaiah, the great prophet, says that God judges a man by what's in his heart. What's in his heart he does. God wants us to care about others, no matter what their religion or none. A lot of people cop out and say: The story of the virgin and son existed a long time before Jesus. Tell me how that is relevant to the question. I, personally, do not believe that Jesus touted himself as the long-awaited messiah - his followers did do that later. But tell me why the story existing before the event nullifies the event. How can mankind making up a story nullify the true event when God says it's time to do it? I do not think Jesus was God but, presented with factual information, I can hit my knees at a moment's notice. If Jesus is God, I have to accept it. Not a problem. It would be very welcomed to suddenly know for sure. On the other hand, I have to remember that worshiping Jesus if he is not God would be like worshiping the creation instead of the Creator. If I were God, I would be angry, too.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Maybe you should of started gathering your information by reading the 4 gospels.It sure sound like your looking at things through the lord of the flies eyes.its presumptuous to think that someone has to tout himself to be who he is.Stick to handicapping as your out of your league here.
ReplyDeleteI've read the four gospels many times. I understand the four viewpoints quite well and think John's is the most unique. I respect greatly the words of Jesus as they have come down to us through the hands of men. I guess you noticed that not all four gospels reported exactly the same words coming from Jesus's mouth but the idea comes through when we read them in context. I think I explained well that Jesus could be God or he could have been interpreted by his followers to be God. That's a matter of faith. I am ready to go either way. As I said, God judges a man by what's in his heart. Isaiah taught that and so did Jesus. He was not nearly as picky as modern Christianity is. For that matter, we really can't say how picky he was or wasn't because the words were filtered through his followers. I always talk to people according to their own beliefs. I never say that they are wrong and that they should go by what I believe. I don't think I am out of my league here at all. Neither would I tell you that you are. I'm open for discussion but you must remember that our true knowledge is more limited than any denomination would have us believe. By the way, I don't subscribe to the Lord of the Flies. I've never even read it. I would bet, however, that I wouldn't accept its philosophy any more than most philosophies because they tend to limit Him too much. It's just a novel, I'm sure. You explain that philosophy to me and I'll tell you where I disagree.
ReplyDeleteNutshell,
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you, in a search and discovery mode of religion, God, and life, have reached similar conclusions to what I have over 40 years as a professing Christian. I have come to my conclusions over years of good times and years of heartache. It has been my faith in God that has kept me from giving up. I believe that if a person does not develop a strong faith in God, then life is meaningless.
About Jesus, the best analogy that I have heard is this. He was either a lunatic or a liar. Or he is who he said he is.
Anyway, keep searching and asking questions. Life is a search for truth. And doesn't the Bible say that the truth will set you free?
Just as we have the "free will" to obey or to sin, so we have good times and bad times. I believe that God set things into motion and we do most of the guiding. We lead ourselves right into bad situations. Who can say how many so-called natural things we set into motion with our actions? Then we blame Him for causing them or for allowing them to happen. My best friend's brother did a military stint in Spain. He said there was no God after seeing the deplorable conditions of some of the people there. Did God do that? No. Did God allow that? Yes. He allowed men to do that. Most of the time God does not interfere with the universe but once in a while He does. He has interfered in my life many times and I am very grateful. When times are bad I can whine and complain and get depressed or I can be grateful for the life He gave me and remember the many good things I have enjoyed and do not deserve. The many years of thought have led me to one conclusion: God does not owe me anything. Whatever I have enjoyed is His undeserved gift to me. I spend a lot of time thinking how grateful I am and knowing there is no way I can return the joy to God that He has given me other than simply trying to make Him happy. I'm sure that's enough to please Him in our lop-sided relationship. The bad times are difficult but they are much better than to never have existed. Thank you for your comments and I hope you learn, if you haven't already, to see things the way I do. God takes care of me when I'm stupid. That makes me feel inferior. But that's not a bad thing because I certainly am inferior to Him.
ReplyDelete