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bkmiller

- 2 years ago

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Who is Jesus to you?

A historical figure? A fictional character? A friend? He's a friend to me.

"I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." John 17:13-17

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I saw an interesting Documentary on the Discovery Channel where magicians talked about the "Miracles" of Jesus. All of them could have been done by a magician with help from one or 2 assistants. Many if not quite all of those who could or would have been the assistants were one by one given a choice between death and revealing the "trick" They chose death. Maybe Jesus was just a guy who had an uncanny knack for picking stubborn secret keepers who didn't mind being nailed to a board upside down, or fed to a lion. I believe they saw something real enough to die for without regret.
If Christianity had not spread through the land of my ancestors without bloodshed, If my genetic predecessors had not freely chosen to adopt the religion I wouldn't waste my time contemplating it or it's teachings. The Hindus claim that Mankind gets out of whack and too selfish for life to be enjoyable. At such times "God" sends down an incarnation of Itself to instruct us on how to live better. Ya know an Avatar. I am quite fond of the story of krishna and the shepherdesses but Jesus is cool too. Then again maybe I am just playing it cool because I prefer : To be about it rather than talk about it. That's because I feel no compulsion to convince anyone to my point of view.
All y'all Have a Great Weekend the Moon is Beautiful Tonight

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Especially important to me, a personal level, is the emphasis Jesus places on the Shema and the Golden Rule, which I believe basically comprise the universal teachings of God's many religions. Abdul-Baha expresses well what Jesus is me and other Bahais:

"Jesus Christ gave His life upon the cross for the unity of mankind. Those who believed in Him likewise sacrificed life, honor, possessions, family, everything, that this human world might be released from the hell of discord, enmity and strife. His foundation was the oneness of humanity. Only a few were attracted to Him. They were not the kings and rulers of His time. They were not rich and important people. Some of them were catchers of fish. Most of them were ignorant men, not trained in the knowledge of this world. One of the greatest of them, Peter, could not remember the days of the week. All of them were men of the least consequence in the eyes of the world. But their hearts were pure and attracted by the fires of the Divine Spirit manifested in Christ. With this small army Christ conquered the world of the East and the West. Kings and nations rose against Him. Philosophers and the greatest men of learning assailed and blasphemed His Cause. All were defeated and overcome, their tongues silenced, their lamps extinguished, their hatred quenched; no trace of them now remains. They have become as nonexistent, while His Kingdom is triumphant and eternal." Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace.

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Jesus is the guy who fixed my car last week, and I must say he did a bang up job too. Even gave me a free oil change and fuel injection clean.

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A great presentation by Bart Ehrman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS37yrBwx2Q&feature=related

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a tool used by others to make other either feel superior or inferior.
I really dug him in Jesus Christ Superstar

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To me, Jesus is a brand. A means of advertising brand and more largely a means of public relations branding.

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God's covenant is to care for the maturation (salvation) of humanity. From age to age, different historical figures have manifested in the world to guide us, to deepen our understanding, to cultivate our spiritual potential. Though the outward lamps differ, thus reflecting different qualities and intensities, the Light shining through them is the same.

The Word of God, the Spirit of Truth, is eternal. Jesus is the Messiah, the Alpha and the Omega. Through Him, we may come to know God's great purpose: to love and to serve. For the needs of subsequent eras, the One True God manifested in the historical personages of Muhammad, the Bab and Baha'u'llah.

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An historical figure that Christians believe is the son of God, who let Jews and Romans beat the sh*t out of him to prove he's selfless so that everyone can go to heaven if they can admit and truly believe Christianity is the Right Way to accept God.

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Many of my atheist brethren (particularly the staunch, anti-theist guys) like to attack Jesus as a historical figure. They say that there's no evidence (or bad evidence) that he ever existed, and his story/qualities so directly match other mythical figures of the ancient world (Horus and Mithras, most notably) that it's ridiculous to think he was ever a real human being.

This is the topic on which I fight other atheists the most. I say we should follow the evidence and our own rational faculties, like we're always telling religious folks to do. Well, right now the overwhelming majority of Biblical historians say he existed (including Bart Ehrman, a non-believer and renown New Testament scholar, who says that he doesn't know of a single scholar in his field who seriously doubts Jesus' historicity). They have good reason to believe this, the evidence simply points to that being the case.

Now is this a problem for atheism? Absolutely not. Those guys earlier had a point with one point: the similarity Jesus shares to other mythical figures. Seriously, the parallels between all these guys is pretty hard to ignore. It's most likely that Jesus existed as a real person, was some sort of rabbinical teacher, and had his life story wildly embellished at least 40 years after his death.

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a Mexican gardener.

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A symbol.

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Savior, friend

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He was just this guy, ya know? He had some pretty radical ideas about how people should treat each other, and it got blown WAY out of proportion.

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A historical figure.
Possibly an avatar.

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From the writings of Baha'u'llah:

" Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God,
the whole creation wept with a great weeping. By sacrificing Himself,
however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things.
...... The deepest wisdom which the sages have uttered, the profoundest
learning which any mind hath unfolded, the arts which the ablest hands have produced,
the influence exerted by the most potent of rulers, are but manifestations of the
quickening power released by His transcendent, His all-pervasive, and resplendent Spirit.

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory
upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy
of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed.
Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened,
and the soul of the sinner sanctified......
.....He it is Who purified the world. Blessed is the man who, with a face beaming
with light, hath turned towards Him.

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He's an unknown. He may have existed, but differentiating between the fiction and the reality is not an easy task.

I'd be willing to bet he didn't have super powers.

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A very influencial historical- religious figure who became a mith and very powerful symbol at the end of the Roman empire. more so , after it got promoted by goverment degree ( Constantine). as a way of the goverment to hold the empire together.

Now, it is part of the identity ,the tradition, the therapy tools, belief systems of millions of people around the world. Especially , the south of the USA and latin-america.

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A very influencial historical- religious figure who became a mith and very powerful symbol at the end of the Roman empire. more so , after it got promoted by goverment degree ( Constantine). as a way of the goverment to hold the empire together.

Now, it is part of the identity ,the tradition, the therapy tools, belief systems of millions of people around the world. Especially , the south of the USA and latin-america.

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I'm pretty sure Jesus was a real dude--at least I'd to think he was. I bet he got a real bad rap from a lot of people because he was probably way ahead of his time, out-spoken, charismatic, and most likely a little far-out with his ideas and plans for the future--you know, like Charlie Sheen. Man, I'd love to have a few beer with Jesus and Charlie Sheen.

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Friend, savior, God

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