Christianity is Idol worship!

Let's Get Things Back Into Perspective Here!

We have to keep in mind, and never loose site of the fact that the historical "Jesus" was culturally a product of the ancient Near East, and in an area under Roman sovereignty.

"Christ" was a product of the people and times that came after him; most notably Pauline thought, as well as a Greek influence.

The parables and stories of the historical Jesus were the product of a first century Jewish "rabbi-sage-cynic" from Galilee who had an enormous influence on a handful of people around him.

We will refer to the historical figure as "Jesus" from now on and the person of mythology as being the "Christ" of our modern religion.

"Christianity," in its simplest terms, is the result of previous centuries of Jewish and Greek myth and conjecture about the coming of a “Messiah,” and revolves around the resurrection.

The teachings of Jesus were altered to fit the legend, but definitely took a secondary role.

The gospels were composed many years after the death of not only Jesus, but even of most of the people that knew him directly. Not only were these Gospels displaced in time, but also displaced culturally since Greek speaking Christians composed them.

- And then even further meaning was lost in translation from the Aramaic.

There are now two main, and disparate, schools of thought about the origin of Christianity. The first, and mistaken belief is that Jesus himself, as well as his teachings, was the founder.

The other is that the Christ or "Anointed One" of the Resurrection, as well as Pauline thought, is the bases of this religion. This may seem to be a small distinction upon first inspection, but in the end a very crucial one.

If it is based on the teachings, and more importantly, the example of Jesus, then his words take on enormous significance.

If, on the other hand, the "resurrection" and "Pauline thought" is taken as the bases for Christianity, then it is based on the ideas and beliefs of the people who came after him!

Remember a very important fact! Jesus never personally claimed to be conducting his Ministry to "erase man's sins,” just as he never claimed to be divine himself. Jesus constantly referred to himself as the "son of God,” just as we all are!

The early Christian gospels are not historical biographies of Christ, and do not really give us insight into the life of Jesus. These gospels proclaim a message about Jesus, and express a significance that the early Christians found in Jesus.

They are written in a way that appeals to historical truth, but they are not history in any actual sense.

The gospels expressed what people experienced about Jesus in the context of the first century Near East.

This experience was taken as a "revelation" of the divine, and they tell us what the early Christians eventually came to believe about Jesus!

Until the recent deciphering of the Gospel of Thomas and the discovery of the "Q" sayings, this knowledge of Christ was the only bases we had to explore the historical Jesus.

As a result, it was very difficult to differentiate between the actual words of Jesus and the words attributed to him by his followers. (Christians) ............................Fortunately, this is changing.