Christianity is a giant lie. Giant. Lie.
It's complete misunderstanding - bullshit that has been used a tool for manipulation for nearly 2000 years.
The religion as we know it, the majority of which is taken from the New Testament Cannon, was promulgated by Saul who was called Paul, a Roman outsider to the Jewish mystery cult of which Jesus was a member (the Nazarene branch of the Essenes). Saul's limited comprehension of what he was hearing about was magnified and run with by the Roman Empire when they adopted Christianity as a way to save their dying way of life. It failed to save Rome, but launched a giant scourge on the planet known affectionately in the West as The Dark Ages. It wasn't until the Church started to lose its grasp on the people that the Renaissance happened - and centuries of rapid, rapid progress in a wide range of areas.
Some history:
Nazareth was not included in the list of settlements of the tribes of Zebulon (Joshua 19:10-16) which mentions twelve towns and six villages, and Nazareth is not included among the 45 cities of Galilee that were mentioned by Josephus (37AD-100AD), a widely traveled historian who never missed anything and who voluminously describes the region. The name is also missing from the 63 towns of Galilee mentioned in the Talmud. There was no Nazareth where Christ was born. Nope. Nada. So what is this Jesus (Joshua, really) of Nazareth stuff?
At the time of Christ there were three main groups of Jews, one of which was the Essenes. The Essenes had three main branches, one of which was
Theraputae of Egypt; where the infant Christ and his family fled during Herods rein. The second was the Essenes of Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls), the strict, celibate monastery of which John the Baptist was a part. And the final one was the Nazarenes of Mount Carmel, the cooperative family village where Jesus lived and studied. So those Romans and outsiders, ones who don't know their Jewish history and geography, interpreted it as the place of origin rather as an essentially political affiliation.
Another example of textual problems that come from the translations and redactions and additions: Christ's divinity wasn't even establish as Church cannon until several hundred years after his death because, well, the story doesn't work if he's just a dude.
Matthew's original wording has been preserved only in an early
Syriac codex, in which the genealogy concluded: "And Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary,
and he fathered Jesus, the reputed Messiah." - Matthew 1:16
All surviving (allowed to survive, later copies) Greek manuscripts contain the revised genealogy: "And Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of
Mary, of whom was born Jesus, the reputed Messiah." - Matthew 1:16
Christianity is a set of stories, told by someones with incomplete information, about somethings they didn't actually understand.
If you want to know more about these topics, I encourage you to look at archeological records and sources, not Christian ones. The dead sea scrolls, by all accounts some of the oldest, least adulterated sources on these topics, are full of stuff your pastor didn't tell you including a bunch of other "Gospels" that may be more indicative of what an Essene of the Nazarene sect would have actually believed.
Oh, and as a final aside on this topic, there's evidence (which I ain't going to go into here) to suggest that the Essenes acknowledged Moses received laws from God, but not the laws the Jews of the day were following -
they felt the law in the Torah was made up huey derived to hide the true teachings of God from everyone else. And then there's that Egyptian connection again...Moses, you old rogue, you.
*****
Back to the line from the thread:
I don't worry about people who believe. I say good for them if it makes them feel better. It doesn't affect my world at all whatever they believe - and when it does affect my life, such as radical Islam atm, then we should exterminate them all. Carpet bombing is the solution here, folks. Carpet bombing.
Flake, good for you with ur Jesus stuff. You be snug in ur Jesus and believe the light and truth and stuff if it helps you cope with your life, gives you strength, and brings you peace. Those are wonderful benefits and it's a habit that enriches your life and those around you. Go with it and don't let anyone stop you.
JNE - stop being rude to people who believe by railing against them and their beliefs when they aren't harming you at all. They leave you alone if you smile and nod and ask them to pray for you. It's much simpler than what you do; you should try it.
