Good question. I don't know. Not even sure what great theological "truth" it may be intended to impart to us. What are your thoughts, Wii?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walks_in_islam
I do not know if it is intended to impart any theological truth. All of the stories of this event contradict one another.
This is just off the cuff, but....
So Jesus's physical life is over. The appearance that he took on was unimportant (I think there is a scripture in Isaiah that talks about him being nothing much to look at that men should admire Him).
Maybe it was about learning to recognize Jesus based on his words and deeds and teachings, not because he looks the way you expect him too. Maybe it's also saying that metaphorically speaking, Jesus will never look exactly the same to each of us.
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“There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.”
So Jesus's physical life is over. The appearance that he took on was unimportant (I think there is a scripture in Isaiah that talks about him being nothing much to look at that men should admire Him).
Maybe it was about learning to recognize Jesus based on his words and deeds and teachings, not because he looks the way you expect him too. Maybe it's also saying that metaphorically speaking, Jesus will never look exactly the same to each of us.
Hey, not bad.
Welcome back to Timmy Talk, Mich!
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Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty
So Jesus's physical life is over. The appearance that he took on was unimportant (I think there is a scripture in Isaiah that talks about him being nothing much to look at that men should admire Him).
Maybe it was about learning to recognize Jesus based on his words and deeds and teachings, not because he looks the way you expect him too. Maybe it's also saying that metaphorically speaking, Jesus will never look exactly the same to each of us.
Well said. So would it be better if one wishes to follow Jesus to turn one's back on the teachings of men and follow exactly what Jesus taught?
Would Christianity not look different then?
Well said. So would it be better if one wishes to follow Jesus to turn one's back on the teachings of men and follow exactly what Jesus taught?
Would Christianity not look different then?
I'm kind of the wrong one to ask, as I did the first one 7 years ago, and have been remarkably slow about the second part.
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“There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.”
This situation was foreseen by Jesus, of course. He chided Thomas, who would not believe the word of the others until he saw for himself (same as all the disciples), and said those who would believe without seeing (like us today) would be "blessed". Yeah, I guess that makes sense: have even more faith than the disciples had, who spent years with Jesus, and there better be some kind of reward!
Yep. It's pretty rare for fish to examine the water in which they swim, and that fact (the culture I grew up in) made it hard to realize how strongly it predisposed me to just believe (not fully, of course, until full conversion) that the bible is true and the Jewish god is our god, rather than the Koran is true, or that Krishna is a god. Once you (try to) look at the influence of one's own culture, as well as how prevalent competing religion propaganda was 1900 years ago, it all makes sense how we (I) could believe without real questioning, just the way called Christians are supposed to believe. We today are left with the "documents" (actually religious tracts) that survived the best, and were the most adaptable and malleable for surviving the future. But look at the bible with the same scrutiny we look at the Koran, or the book of Mormon--and they all become strong faith-based hoaxes, having only the fingerprints of men, who themselves believed the unbelievable.
God Is Disappointed in You
by Mark Russell, Shannon Wheeler
God Is Disappointed in You is for people who would like to read the Bible... if it would just cut to the chase. Stripped of its arcane language and its interminable passages of poetry, genealogy, and law, every book of the Bible is condensed down to its core message, in no more than a few pages each. Written by Mark Russell with cartoons by New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, God Is Disappointed in You is a frequently hilarious, often shocking, but always accurate retelling of the Bible, including the parts selectively left out by Sunday School teachers and church sermons. Irreverent yet faithful, this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to see past the fog of religious agendas and cultural debates to discover what the Bible really says.
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“There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.”
Author Marlene Winell says it well:
"The most serious demand for unquestioned belief is, of course, the atonement. First, the believer is to suspend familiar notions of justice, such as punishment of the guilty as opposed to an innocent party. You are then expected to accept the necessity of blood sacrifice for sin; that wrongdoing must be paid for, and not necessarily in proportion to the crime. A father's sacrifice of his innocent son is supposed to be not only just but generous and wonderful. Then the temporary three-day death [actually about thirty-six hours] of this one person is supposed to wipe out all the wrongdoing and ineptitude of the species. And finally, you should believe that all you need do to erase the responsibility for your actions and enter a haven of eternal reward is to believe. It's no wonder that once a convert has wrapped his or her mind around this story, anything can be accepted as truth."
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