Heck, He might've been Buddhist

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Accountable

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I'm probably the worst person to start this conversation because the subject just isn't really high on my priority list. The subject of convincing others, that is.

Jesus, God, and personal religion is a really simple concept to me, and I don't get why people try to make it so complicated. They are real and important to me, but others' not believing doesn't make them less real any more than someone not believing that I have siblings makes my brother less real. I know I have a sister and your opinion of that makes no difference to me whatsoever.

I have no problem at all believing that much of the Old Testament is myth and/or legend. Much of it was passed by word-of-mouth until King Salomon's people developed a written language so how could it avoid embellishment? I also have no problem rejecting any part of the New Testament after the Book of John, since it was human interpretation of what they remember Jesus said, heavily influenced by the very Jewish tradition Jesus rendered obsolete.

I believe Jesus Son of Joseph is the human form of the god Yahweh, who shed his own blood in sacrifice for us and rose again. I believe this because I choose to believe it, and I follow his teachings as best I can because I choose to follow them. In this current life the real Truth of His existence and purpose is no more relevant than the author of a self-help book. I believe it has far more import beyond this life, but for now Jesus' teachings are my self-help book.

I had more written but I'll stop here for now.
 
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Maldoror

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I have no problem believing it's all a myth, because that's the truth of the matters. But it's cool if you need a dogma, or a self-help book as you like to call it, to live by. Cheers.
 
Accountable

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Maldoror said:
I have no problem believing it's all a myth, because that's the truth of the matters. But it's cool if you need a dogma, or a self-help book as you like to call it, to live by. Cheers.
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This is the type of posts I see a lot of and just don't understand. What's the purpose? Does it enhance any conversation or educate anyone in any way?
 
Accountable

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cam elle toe said:
There are some who think that Jesus WAS the Buddha re incarnated


Just to throw a spanner in the works:D
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Some think he might have traveled & learned Buddhism. In the scheme of things it doesn't matter much. His teachings set really good guidelines for leading a good life.
 
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Accountable said:
Some think he might have traveled & learned Buddhism. In the scheme of things it doesn't matter much. His teachings set really good guidelines for leading a good life.
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I read a book about his "missing years"...you know...the years the bible totally skims over..when he "wandered the desert"

It tells how he DID travel and study not only Buddhism....but he learned his miracles with Indian "gurus"...studied with the Essenes in Egypt....it was one of the most interesting books I have ever read:thumbup
 
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Dana

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theres no real proof that Yeshua/Yehweh/Jesus ever even existed. And if he existed there are many who debate what really took place. It's fine if you choose to hold onto such a fallacy. I believe in God or a higher power and that there is more to life but for some reason, I just can not get into religion as an adult. God brings us together. Religion divides us. I'm paraphrasing somebody but I forget where I heard it.
 
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Maldoror

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Accountable said:
Weird name, but he seems like a nice enough guy. Friend of yours? :D

I'd have to see alot more than a couple minutes of video to draw an opinion. What's your opinion of Spong?
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Well, I didn't mean your opinion of the guy per se, but the ideas he's expressing and that is non-theistic cultural Christianity with the emphasis on constructive Christian values such as Love rather than destructive values such as faith.
 
Accountable

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Maldoror said:
Well, I didn't mean your opinion of the guy per se, but the ideas he's expressing and that is non-theistic cultural Christianity with the emphasis on constructive Christian values such as Love rather than destructive values such as faith.
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Oh, sure. Without getting into any details of what he espouses, that general idea is what Jesus taught. He never taught elitism, segregation, or even homophobia.
 
Minor Axis

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Accountable said:
This is the type of posts I see a lot of and just don't understand. What's the purpose? Does it enhance any conversation or educate anyone in any way?
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He's telling you that he disagrees with your outlook. I say there is not enough evidence to reach your conclusion. There is no such thing as education when it comes to faith. Mostly the theists have been indoctrinated or need something to believe in as a self help book. Then it turns into just pushing whatever fairy tale you believe in. If you object to the word fairy tale, would you call it fact? I don't think so, why it's faith, the word that allows you to think just about anything you want to. We can argue faith all day until we are blue in the face and not prove a thing.

There is a saying that if one person suffers from delusion it's called insanity. But if a group of people suffer from delusion it's called religion. :)
 
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Minor Axis said:
He's telling you that he disagrees with your outlook. I say there is not enough evidence to reach your conclusion. There is no such thing as education when it comes to faith. Mostly the theists have been indoctrinated or need something to believe in as a self help book. Then it turns into just pushing whatever fairy tale you believe in. If you object to the word fairy tale, would you call it fact? I don't think so, why it's faith, the word that allows you to think just about anything you want to. We can argue faith all day until we are blue in the face and not prove a thing.

There is a saying that if one person suffers from delusion it's called insanity. But if a group of people suffer from delusion it's called religion. :)
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There's not enough evidence for you to reach my conclusion, and that's okay. Instead of fairy tale or fact, how about viewing it as a basis of ethics? Why would it matter to you whether I believe Jesus was a real person any more than whether My siblings are real? ... That is, unless you want an introduction.

Resist going macro on me here, because that's usually where these conversations always go, and in this thread it would constitute derailing. Jesus made it pretty clear that his teachings were not about running a country or any kind of mass governing authority. They were about personal actions, personal decisions, personal responsibility.
 
Niamh

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Minor Axis said:
He's telling you that he disagrees with your outlook. I say there is not enough evidence to reach your conclusion. There is no such thing as education when it comes to faith. Mostly the theists have been indoctrinated or need something to believe in as a self help book. Then it turns into just pushing whatever fairy tale you believe in. If you object to the word fairy tale, would you call it fact? I don't think so, why it's faith, the word that allows you to think just about anything you want to. We can argue faith all day until we are blue in the face and not prove a thing.

There is a saying that if one person suffers from delusion it's called insanity. But if a group of people suffer from delusion it's called religion. :)
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:homo:Excellent post. LMAO at
"There is a saying that if one person suffers from delusion it's called insanity. But if a group of people suffer from delusion it's called religion":24: It's funny cos it's true!
 
Minor Axis

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Accountable said:
There's not enough evidence for you to reach my conclusion, and that's okay. Instead of fairy tale or fact, how about viewing it as a basis of ethics? Why would it matter to you whether I believe Jesus was a real person any more than whether My siblings are real? ... That is, unless you want an introduction.

Resist going macro on me here, because that's usually where these conversations always go, and in this thread it would constitute derailing. Jesus made it pretty clear that his teachings were not about running a country or any kind of mass governing authority. They were about personal actions, personal decisions, personal responsibility.
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From what I know the Biblical character called Jesus is a pretty cool dude from a social perspective. He had a good moral sense. I don't want to call it my problem or issue, but my critique is that Jesus is not used as just a moral basis, he is used as the path to salvation. If people could resist the urge act in a negative way based upon the premise there would be nothing wrong with it. The 'negative' ranges from prejudice to murder to genocide. My cup over flowth with examples in history and today.

This is not so much a problem but another critique is that typically people who hold Jesus up demean the human race by implying that this moral basis does not come from ourselves but from God. I suggest that morals come from within, not from without.
 
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Zorak

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I'm not a Christian, but fair play to anyone who is. Just don't let any organised religion cloud your judgement or take control of your actions, you wouldn't let the government do it.
 
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