Statue Of A Homeless Jesus Startles A Wealthy Community

[Danno 1,228]

Believers of Christianity would say that Jesus was the living word. Before then, the word became sterile and hardened. He preached that the law is written in our hearts and that law is quite simple - to love. His purpose was not to come up with writings like an edict. He instead used parables to help people understand how to love. It was completely radical then and even now. You don't need the Bible to tell you what to do, but the Gospels can offer us a better understanding of what it means to love.

New-age Christianity on parade.

Matthew 5 x17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Danno

[Peikko 1,575]

I expect a more serious effort than that.

You claim my understanding of the New testament is off, thats fair enough, now give me one example of Jesus sinning.

Where did He pass the hat to buy his supper?

Expect whatever you want. You are the one who purports to be a christian. I can look at the statue as a work of art, I find it interesting and not in the least bit offensive or party political. You on the other hand...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

New-age Christianity on parade.

Matthew 5 x17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

It's called - understanding the message of Jesus. You can cherry-pick the Gospels to fit your narrow understanding of what Jesus was about, but anyone taking in the Gospels as a whole, understands that the prevailing message is love.

Read the entire Gospel of Matthew and then give your summary of Jesus' message in a sentence.

Matthew 22:36-40

The Greatest Commandment.^*34ⁱ When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,35and one of them [a scholar of the law]^* tested him by asking,36“Teacher,^* which commandment in the law is the greatest?”37^j He said to him,^* “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.38This is the greatest and the first commandment.39^k The second is like it:^* You shall love your neighbor as yourself.40^{* l} The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Edited April 16, 2014 by Porterhouse

[JohnR! 5,495]

It would seem we both have a hankering for fairytales no?

Sincce you can only speak for yourself, I will take your comment as a testimonial.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Believers of Christianity would say that Jesus was the living word. Before then, the word became sterile and hardened. He preached that the law is written in our hearts and that law is quite simple - to love. His purpose was not to come up with writings like an edict. He instead used parables to help people understand how to love. It was completely radical then and even now. You don't need the Bible to tell you what to do, but the Gospels can offer us a better understanding of what it means to love.

Right on the money. If any of the hearsay about Jesus is true, then he himself would have stood against everything christianity has become. If the words attributed to him as true, he preached nothing but common sense. You could say he was a good observant jew.

[Danno 1,228]

It's called - understanding the message of Jesus. You can cherry-pick the Gospels to fit your narrow understanding of what Jesus was about, but anyone taking in the Gospels as a whole, understands that the prevailing message is love.

Read the entire Gospel of Matthew and then give your summary of Jesus' message in a sentence.

Matthew 22:36-40

The Greatest Commandment.^*34ⁱ When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,35and one of them [a scholar of the law]^* tested him by asking,36“Teacher,^* which commandment in the law is the greatest?”37^j He said to him,^* “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.38This is the greatest and the first commandment.39^k The second is like it:^* You shall love your neighbor as yourself.40^{* l} The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”

Thanks for posting that scripture, it again reinforces my point.

Take note the question was "The greatest commandment" not the ONLY commandment.

I aM NOT wishing to ignore the emphasis on love, I just question how you could conclude that some doctrine of love replaced everythiung. To believe that you would have to ignore huge portions of Scripture.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Except there really was a Jesus and many miracles were witnessed. The church is misguided not Jesus.

I don't think for a second any of the swill dispensed at church bears any truth. Jesus could not even be bothered to write his own gospel, which pretty much tells us all that he couldn't care less about leaving a legacy. The books that were picked and chosen to be a part of the new testament are fabrications of years later and quite possibly were edited to suit the emerging christian church at the time. They are as real as any of the Greek gospels of gods atop mount Olympus.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Except there really was a Jesus and many miracles were witnessed. The church is misguided not Jesus.

I don't dispute there probably has been a Jesus. I do question everything that was written about him. As to the miracles, all we have is heasrsay from men of questionnable repute. Perhaps people of that time called miracles all that which they couldn't comprehend about the universe, such as a shooting star...

[luckytxn 2,264]

Perhaps but walking on water and bringing dead back to life were witnessed by crowds so I doubt they were all of ill repute. He was shadowed by a crowd and hardly had any alone time. As for hearsay I agree some is there but that is why I listen to his words and not others interpretation and meanings. The church is corrupt not the message.

I don't dispute there probably has been a Jesus. I do question everything that was written about him. As to the miracles, all we have is heasrsay from men of questionnable repute. Perhaps people of that time called miracles all that which they couldn't comprehend about the universe, such as a shooting star...

Edited April 17, 2014 by luckytxn

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Thanks for posting that scripture, it again reinforces my point.

Take note the question was "The greatest commandment" not the ONLY commandment.

I aM NOT wishing to ignore the emphasis on love, I just question how you could conclude that some doctrine of love replaced everythiung. To believe that you would have to ignore huge portions of Scripture.

Where did I say it was the only commandment? I said love is the central message of Jesus, and quoted Jesus saying the whole commandments and prophets come from that idea. Using programmer's logic, love is the over-arching condition which everything else must filter through or it's not from God, but humankind's own projection of what we think comes from God even if, gasp, you find such written in the Bible. Why? Because the Bible's authors were human and imperfect, even though they were inspired by God. The Westboro Baptists are perfect example of how they pervert Jesus' message using Old Testament logic to validate their hatred. Fundamentalist Christians as a whole, are modern day Pharisees who get caught up in the written law instead of following the law written in their hearts. Jesus gives example after example of showing the Pharisees the spiritual danger of placing all your faith in written law while ignoring the word is alive and was made flesh through Christ.

Romans 2:15-16 (St. Paul talks about the Gentiles who do not follow the Torah)

They show that the demands of the law are written in their hearts,^* while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even defend them on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge people’s hidden works through Christ Jesus.

......

Jeremiah 31:33

I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts...

......

Hebrews 10:16

I will put my laws in their hearts

Edited April 17, 2014 by Porterhouse

[Danno 1,228]

Where did I say it was the only commandment? I said love is the central message of Jesus, and quoted Jesus saying the whole commandments and prophets come from that idea. Using programmer's logic, love is the over-arching condition which everything else must filter through or it's not from God, but humankind's own projection of what we think comes from God even if, gasp, you find such written in the Bible. Why? Because the Bible's authors were human and imperfect, even though they were inspired by God. The Westboro Baptists are perfect example of how they pervert Jesus' message using Old Testament logic to validate their hatred. Fundamentalist Christians as a whole, are modern day Pharisees who get caught up in the written law instead of following the law written in their hearts. Jesus gives example after example of showing the Pharisees the spiritual danger of placing all your faith in written law while ignoring the word is alive and was made flesh through Christ.

Romans 2:15-16 (St. Paul talks about the Gentiles who do not follow the Torah)

They show that the demands of the law are written in their hearts,^* while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even defend them on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge people’s hidden works through Christ Jesus.

......

Jeremiah 31:33

I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts...

......

Hebrews 10:16

I will put my laws in their hearts

THe Law is written on a mans heart, yet the scripture also tells us-

Jeremiah 17

9The heart is deceitful above all things

and beyond cure.

Who can understand it?

10“I the Lord search the heart

and examine the mind,

to reward each person according to their conduct,

according to what their deeds deserve.”

On one hand you seem to affirm the law and then you dismiss it for the vague law or spirit of "love."

Supposing that our hearts alone should determine what is right is folly.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Perhaps but walking on water and bringing dead back to life were witnessed by crowds so I doubt they were all of ill repute. He was shadowed by a crowd and hardly had any alone time. As for hearsay I agree some is there but that is why I listen to his words and not others interpretation and meanings. The church is corrupt not the message.

Our paramedics being the dead back to life as part of their daily routing. Not many would call that a miracle, so I am not sure the alleged story of Lazarus is truly depicted in the books.

As to the other miracles, they beg the question as to why would Jesus perform miracles in front of crowds... That would be the validation of JC Superstar, which by all accounts, would not jive with his own philosophy, if we are to believe the apocrypha. What would Jesus be trying to prove by performing miracles in front of crowds? IMHO the account of these miracles are a result of liberties taken by the authors of the books in order to grant their work a level of validity they would otherwise lack.

Logically, what would possess the son of one of the gods to perform miracles before a crowd as a means to validate himself? What further validation would such an Olympian progeny need?

[Peikko 1,575]

Yay joy, scripture wars!

[luckytxn 2,264]

Earlier it was a few ill reputes that saw the miracles. If you are just wanting to dispute things just because then have at it. God bless and take care.

Our paramedics being the dead back to life as part of their daily routing. Not many would call that a miracle, so I am not sure the alleged story of Lazarus is truly depicted in the books.

As to the other miracles, they beg the question as to why would Jesus perform miracles in front of crowds... That would be the validation of JC Superstar, which by all accounts, would not jive with his own philosophy, if we are to believe the apocrypha. What would Jesus be trying to prove by performing miracles in front of crowds? IMHO the account of these miracles are a result of liberties taken by the authors of the books in order to grant their work a level of validity they would otherwise lack.

Logically, what would possess the son of one of the gods to perform miracles before a crowd as a means to validate himself? What further validation would such an Olympian progeny need?

[JohnR! 5,495]

Earlier it was a few ill reputes that saw the miracles. If you are just wanting to dispute things just because then have at it. God bless and take care.

I don't believe anyone saw any miracles. Certain episodes are called miracles because there is no apparent explanation to them, which doesn't mean they can't be explained at all.

I do think and I would be money that a lot of liberty was taken by those who wrote the scriptures and those who edited it, and subsequently translated it and versed it in order to fit their political agenda at a certain point in history. It seems extremely unwise to take any of those texts for anything other than face value and story telling.