The Chuch of Allan - The Plain Truth About God
A serialization of the book, The Plain Truth About God.
Chapter 10. - Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up!
To quote James Breech once more: “Your concept of the kingdom of God, whether it belongs to the future mythological conceived, in either eschatological or apocalyptic terms, misses the reality of the kingdom.
The symbolism really refers to a power that is a basic factor in human experience!”
In the teachings attributed to Jesus, it is abundantly clear that he was an apocalyptic teacher who believed that the world would end within the lifetime of the people to which he was speaking.
The foundation of these teachings was that human beings could be saved by both believing his word and by modeling their lives on the higher moral law of God.
That higher moral law was the foundation of Jewish law.
To this end, he believed that Pharisaical teaching were an appropriate guide to following this higher moral law.
His criticism of the Pharisees was that they did not live by what they taught.
In line with this higher moral law, Jesus of Nazareth preached an ethics of selfless concern for the welfare of others, rejection of material wealth, and non-retribution, all of which were standard in Jewish ethics.
The religion that he taught was an intensely individual religion. Righteousness, which means the performance of right actions, was not a quality of actions but rather a quality of the interior state of the individual.
There is also abundant evidence in the Gospels that Jesus considered his teachings to be for Jews only.
This is a curious tradition to maintain in the face of the massive spread of Christianity into the Gentile world.
However, nowhere does Jesus of Nazareth construe his teachings or the religion he is espousing as anything other than for Jews and in one place explicitly says that his mission is only to the Jews.
Ultimately, the Jesus who emerges from the gospels is concerned with preparing the Jews for the last event in history.
The Christian religion was at first, obviously, a Jewish religion. It was a movement amongst the population in the immediate area of the land Jesus lived in.
Its message aimed directly at a Jewish audience by Jews.
However, with the advent of the Prophet Paul the message changed and was geared towards a Gentile population that was eager for the “word” as well.
Onto this template, Paul of Tarsus would add a new emphasis Jesus as a dead and risen God co-extensive with God.
This developed into two branches, which we could call a Jewish Christian and a Pauline (Gentile) Christian.
They not only lived side by side, but also competed for the same converts.
It was not until the Romans suppressed an uprising by the Jews in c A.D. 66-74 and again A.D. 132-135 that led to the destruction of Massada that the Pauline Christians gradually won out.
They became the defenders of the faith while the Jewish Christians were left by the wayside.
(Actually in the ashes of Massada!)
Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available at the web site www.God-101.com
Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com
Chapter 10. - Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up!
To quote James Breech once more: “Your concept of the kingdom of God, whether it belongs to the future mythological conceived, in either eschatological or apocalyptic terms, misses the reality of the kingdom.
The symbolism really refers to a power that is a basic factor in human experience!”
In the teachings attributed to Jesus, it is abundantly clear that he was an apocalyptic teacher who believed that the world would end within the lifetime of the people to which he was speaking.
The foundation of these teachings was that human beings could be saved by both believing his word and by modeling their lives on the higher moral law of God.
That higher moral law was the foundation of Jewish law.
To this end, he believed that Pharisaical teaching were an appropriate guide to following this higher moral law.
His criticism of the Pharisees was that they did not live by what they taught.
In line with this higher moral law, Jesus of Nazareth preached an ethics of selfless concern for the welfare of others, rejection of material wealth, and non-retribution, all of which were standard in Jewish ethics.
The religion that he taught was an intensely individual religion. Righteousness, which means the performance of right actions, was not a quality of actions but rather a quality of the interior state of the individual.
There is also abundant evidence in the Gospels that Jesus considered his teachings to be for Jews only.
This is a curious tradition to maintain in the face of the massive spread of Christianity into the Gentile world.
However, nowhere does Jesus of Nazareth construe his teachings or the religion he is espousing as anything other than for Jews and in one place explicitly says that his mission is only to the Jews.
Ultimately, the Jesus who emerges from the gospels is concerned with preparing the Jews for the last event in history.
The Christian religion was at first, obviously, a Jewish religion. It was a movement amongst the population in the immediate area of the land Jesus lived in.
Its message aimed directly at a Jewish audience by Jews.
However, with the advent of the Prophet Paul the message changed and was geared towards a Gentile population that was eager for the “word” as well.
Onto this template, Paul of Tarsus would add a new emphasis Jesus as a dead and risen God co-extensive with God.
This developed into two branches, which we could call a Jewish Christian and a Pauline (Gentile) Christian.
They not only lived side by side, but also competed for the same converts.
It was not until the Romans suppressed an uprising by the Jews in c A.D. 66-74 and again A.D. 132-135 that led to the destruction of Massada that the Pauline Christians gradually won out.
They became the defenders of the faith while the Jewish Christians were left by the wayside.
(Actually in the ashes of Massada!)
Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available at the web site www.God-101.com
Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com
Labels: Christ, face of jesus, THE CHURCH OF ALLAN, The Plain Truth About God
posted by Allan W Janssen | 12:15 a.m.
2 Comments:
Isaiah chapters 53 and 55 are great resources to research God's purpose regarding the coming Messiah.
I have said this many times before and I will say it again.
Anyone who uses scripture to justify an argument is already brainwashed and beyond logical reasoning, but if you want to play that game then read this.
It is from Isaiah 55.
"My thoughts" said the Lord, "are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours."
"As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours!"
SO, don't tell me what God wants or says or proclaims because YOU DON"T KNOW! None of us do and to think otherwise is foolish.
Or, as Buddha said; When man is free from the illusory attachment to this world he becomes free from rebirth and attains “Nirvana.” (Now comes the important part! "What happens then is beyond our powers to know so it is not worth idle speculation."
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