Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

[Kepler]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

Welp, I did not see that coming.

[joecct]

"No, dude. The fire was Moses."

Nero and Peter (and a host of others)?

[MissThundercat]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

Been reading about how the Bible came to be, and all the books banned from it. Books that would have told us more about Mary, Jesus as a youth, and Jesus from 12 to the start of his public ministry. According to the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus was quite a sh-thead growing up.

[joecct]

Been reading about how the Bible came to be, and all the books banned from it. Books that would have told us more about Mary, Jesus as a youth, and Jesus from 12 to the start of his public ministry. According to the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus was quite a sh-thead growing up.

Not banned, just not made part of canon, for whatever reason. You can still read them, as I have. Plus, there was another cleansing after the Reformation.

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

Not banned, just not made part of canon, for whatever reason. You can still read them, as I have. Plus, there was another cleansing after the Reformation.

As a general rule, anything that could likely be dismissed as speculative hearsay (stories from his youth), or any writings that could introduce plausible deniability to the narrative of divine and sinless Jesus being part of a "Trinity" that is still somehow One God, got canned. All of that distracts from the core message anyway.

[leswp1]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

I read a book once- Heresies of the Early Christian Church. Dry as a bone but it talked about how all the decisions were made, the various factions, etc. If it didn't support the resurrection theme- out it went.

[Kepler]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

I read a book once- Heresies of the Early Christian Church. Dry as a bone but it talked about how all the decisions were made, the various factions, etc. If it didn't support the resurrection theme- out it went.

I like dry. Remember the author? There were many Christian sects who did not believe in the literal Resurrection because, well let's face it, it's ridiculous. But TPTB felt they needed the pizzazz to get the crowds in, so the non-magical people were suppressed (or worse).

My favorite treatment is in Copleston's history of philosophy. Vol 2, I think -- the one that does the Patristics. It's heavy going if you're not used to Olde High Oxbridge, but it's fascinating and, like all of Copleston, beautifully reasoned.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

As a general rule, anything that could likely be dismissed as speculative hearsay (stories from his youth), or any writings that could introduce plausible deniability to the narrative of divine and sinless Jesus being part of a "Trinity" that is still somehow One God, got canned. All of that distracts from the core message anyway.

Personally I'm ok with that. I don't care if the case for Christ's existence in the Bible is airtight or not - its not already. The details are literally not important - the big picture is critically important and helps people worldwide on a daily basis.

And there's plenty of stuff in the Bible that folks get distracted by anyways.

[leswp1]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

I like dry. Remember the author? There were many Christian sects who did not believe in the literal Resurrection because, well let's face it, it's ridiculous. But TPTB felt they needed the pizzazz to get the crowds in, so the non-magical people were suppressed (or worse).

My favorite treatment is in Copleston's history of philosophy. Vol 2, I think -- the one that does the Patristics. It's heavy going if you're not used to Olde High Oxbridge, but it's fascinating and, like all of Copleston, beautifully reasoned.

Yep. That is the one. mum les went thru a phase of curiosity about this stuff. I have that, the Gospels of Thomas - wayyyyyyy weird, and a few other books that explore how things came to be in the "Church"

[Kepler]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

Personally I'm ok with that. I don't care if the case for Christ's existence in the Bible is airtight or not - its not already. The details are literally not important - the big picture is critically important and helps people worldwide on a daily basis.

And there's plenty of stuff in the Bible that folks get distracted by anyways.

Which would work if people treated it as a parable or a metaphor. Unfortunately people treat it like a command line reference. And that means all that ahem distracting (I believe the term you were looking for was "embarrassing") stuff gets put into practice by people who then wind up harming others because of their "deep felt religious beliefs."

God's a great idea until you start taking it literally.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

Which would work if people treated it as a parable or a metaphor. Unfortunately people treat it like a command line reference. And that means all that ahem distracting (I believe the term you were looking for was "embarrassing") stuff gets put into practice by people who then wind up harming others because of their "deep felt religious beliefs."

God's a great idea until you start taking it literally.

Agree with the point on parable. But leadup content shouldn't be embarrassing. Its quite relevant as context for the main story.

The problematic part is when people, with differing agendas, either consciously or unconsciously use this context to override the Gospels. And there is no shortage of outside motivations.

[Kepler]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

Agree with the point on parable. But leadup content shouldn't be embarrassing. Its quite relevant as context for the main story.

The problematic part is when people, with differing agendas, either consciously or unconsciously use this context to override the Gospels. And there is no shortage of outside motivations.

The Gospels have Jesus telling us to throw away all our property and turn our backs on our family and follow him.

There's stuff in the Gospels that's dumb, too.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

The Gospels have Jesus telling us to throw away all our property and turn our backs on our family and follow him.

There's stuff in the Gospels that's dumb, too.

The message is give all your possessions to the poor. One may not be able to reach that high of a bar, but maybe each of us should do more for the poor than we are? Regardless, a Christian's general stance on the poor should not be hard to discern.

[MissThundercat]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

So I've been checking out Grace Episcopal. A member came up to me and said "all are welcome at the table." Even though I don't believe in much of anything, they call me one of their own there, and the Rector there is basically my new best friend.

[5mn_Major]

Re: Religion Thread: We Could Say a Prayer

So I've been checking out Grace Episcopal. A member came up to me and said "all are welcome at the table." Even though I don't believe in much of anything, they call me one of their own there, and the Rector there is basically my new best friend.

Great. Its kind of what this is and supposed to be all about - service for others. Other individuals are there as well for those benefits - and unfort. as with the rest of society, some will have differing POVs.

Regardless, top priority for church is local community and help for anyone who can benefit.