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John 14:6
JESUS ANDSWERED, "I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME"
Mark 16:15
GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE.
Matthew 28: 19-20
GO YE THEREFORE AND TEACH ALL NATIONS... ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU.
Matthew 24:14 AND THIS GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM SHALL BE PREACHED IN ALL THE WORLD FOR A WITNESS TO ALL NATIONS; AND THEN SHALL THE END COME.
We have to keep all this in perspective since the whole idea was to be that only followers of Jesus would rise from the grave, float away on a cloud, pass through pearly gates, walk streets paved with gold, have the creator of the universe prepare a feast before them in the presence of their enemies than after a big supper they could watch all those who disagreed with their belief burn in hell fire and brimstone. That's the way I read the message.
Where in Scripture does it say those in Heaven will witness those suffering in Hell?
There are documented and registered over 44,000 denominations, conventions, sects, cults, variations, beliefs etc. based upon the writings in the new testament. My question is and always has been...since only Christians can expect to make it to heaven and all the masses who don't believe that way will burn eternally in hell fire and brimstone...why did the creator allow it to become so confusing?
How many Christians believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins? What % do you think? Almost 100% is my guess. That's the only thing that matters. The rest is just details.
How many Christians believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins? What % do you think? Almost 100% is my guess. That's the only thing that matters. The rest is just details.
Out of the Conscience being set for the light of Man in the World; it is said We are to Become as Children. But it is fare in tolerance that many Christians are but at Good Will; how they become each one of their own business (Selsam stuff, and the problem of systemic bureaucratic double talk).
Out of the Conscience being set for the light of Man in the World; it is said We are to Become as Children. But it is fare in tolerance that many Christians are but at Good Will; how they become each one of their own business (Selsam stuff, and the problem of systemic bureaucratic double talk).
Surviving disciples suddenly found themselves without the requisite Jewish audiences for their teachings. Apparently, the possibility of not preaching any more wasn't much of an option; they continued to do what they'd been doing, but to an audience that knew and cared nothing about Judaism. Voila...the foundation of Christianity. And once that happened, there was no chance of the originally intended audience ever coming on board.
That's a good assessment. During the Jewish Wars 66-70 CE, most of the Christians, and that would be Jewish mostly Greek-speaking Christians fled Galilee, Samaria, Idumea, and Judea to Pella and other areas on the Aegean Sea. Paul ends up going there, and because of the similarities between Gnosticism and Mithrianism, he gets a lot of Gentile Greek converts.
How many Christians believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins? What % do you think? Almost 100% is my guess. That's the only thing that matters. The rest is just details.
I know Christ said that you must believe in him, but when he said believe in me, he may have meant 'believe that I am telling you the truth - believe in my message, my philosophy. Believe that it is more important to love each other, help the poor, show compassion and understanding rather than to adhere to dogma or law'.
The 4 gospels are the books that Jesus red-lettered in. Where does HE actually say believed I died for your sins, not 'I died for you', but your sins?
I know what the churches say. I also think Paul was a bit of a kook. In the bible others talk about him raising from the dead, etc, but I am interested in whether Christ, himself said you must believe in his resurrection.
Like the Jews who stole El from the Caananites and made him Yahweh.
That isn't likely. Classical Biblical Hebrew is the Ugaritic dialect of Canaanite without the case endings (you know -- Locative, Vocative, Dative, Accusative, Nominative, Genitive etc).
We know that the Leviathan myth, and many of the Psalms and prophetic works were copied directly from the Ugarits. Many of the prophets, like Ezekiel and Isaiah quote directly from Ugaritic texts.
El was chief of the Ugaritic pantheon and Yahweh, along with El Shaddai and El Elyon were sons of El (Bull-El if you prefer).
If you remember, the story of the "Golden Calves" appearing in Exodus was an attack on the tribes of Ephraim and Dan, who had a temple with a golden calf (actually it was a young bull, that is to say it was Bull-El) at the cities of Beth-el and Dan. For the northern tribes and the northern kingdom (the Kingdom of Israel) that was a "throne platform" on which the deity rested, with the obvious implication and symbolism being that the deity was protecting the northern kingdom by sitting or resting over it.
The tribes of Ephraim and Dan bordered Ugarit, so the influence was very heavy. This is also one of the many pieces of evidence that proves the Exodus never occurred, it was merely a story of national unity written shortly after the northern kingdom was destroyed.
Once the Hebrews are finally exiled to the Chaldean (Neo-Babylonian) Empire, they get the idea of a national god from the Babylonians who had 1,000 years earlier elevated Marduk to the position of national god. After elevating Yahweh to a national god, they then added some of the attributes of other deities to Yahweh, like those of El Shaddai and El Elyon and also Bull-El.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristyGrl
The Church knew how to handle them though....they were executed and their material/scriptures were burned and destroyed.
That isn't entirely true. You have the Gnostic gospels that were found hidden in Egypt, probably by a monk from one of the nearby monasteries. These are the Naj 'Hammadi books which contain gospels of Thomas, Phillip and others.
It was Bishop Irenaeus, who 180 CE, wrote The Destruction and Overthrow of Falsely So-called Knowledgeidentifying certain teachings as "heresy" and then about 50 years later you have Hippolytus and his massive tome Refutation of All Heresieswhich he claimed did "expose and refute the wicked blasphemy of the heretics."
I know Christ said that you must believe in him, but when he said believe in me, he may have meant 'believe that I am telling you the truth - believe in my message, my philosophy. Believe that it is more important to love each other, help the poor, show compassion and understanding rather than to adhere to dogma or law'.
The 4 gospels are the books that Jesus red-lettered in. Where does HE actually say believed I died for your sins, not 'I died for you', but your sins?
I know what the churches say. I also think Paul was a bit of a kook. In the bible others talk about him raising from the dead, etc, but I am interested in whether Christ, himself said you must believe in his resurrection.
John 11
25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
Mark 10:45
"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
John 6
51"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
Hmmm...I think before that question is answered another demands and answer first. Who authored the Gospel of John? It is pretty clear that it was not John the Apostle himself.
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