21–30 of 102 posts
TLDR; jesus was a real guy. His disciples were certainly convinced of his very Godness. Most of the creeds that are the basis for the religion are very early. If you want an athiest take on it, checkout the popsci historian Bart Erhman
[flagged]
The Historicity of Jesus is such an interesting topic. There almost certainly was a man from Nazareth named Jesus (we have pretty good unbiased sources there). However, unless you are a follower of his (or potentially some related religions), there are obviously mystical things associated with him that you likely do not believe to actually have happened. Even followers disagree about the veracity of certain stories.…
Myths tell us about ourselves. The sad thing is when people distort or weaponize myth to control others for personal egocentric agendas.
Ultimately many of his apparent teachings seem to be timeless: finding joy in living simply; understanding that heaven is within; etc. Lots of overlap with Buddhist teachings on cessation of suffering. I'm not religious and still try to incorporate the beauty of these ideals!
I hate it when stuff gets posted on here that you have to buy a subscription to read the story.
The Historicity of Jesus is such an interesting topic. There almost certainly was a man from Nazareth named Jesus (we have pretty good unbiased sources there). However, unless you are a follower of his (or potentially some related religions), there are obviously mystical things associated with him that you likely do not believe to actually have happened. Even followers disagree about the veracity of certain stories.…
The important thing it seems is that his myth a part of our stories, and who we are, throughout a large part of the world. Myths tell us about ourselves. The sad thing is when people distort or weaponize myth to control others for personal egocentric agendas. Ultimately many of his apparent teachings seem to be timeless: finding joy in living simply; understanding that heaven is within; etc. Lots of overlap with Budd…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The important thing it seems is that his myth a part of our stories, and who we are, throughout a large part of the world. Myths tell us about ourselves. The sad thing is when people distort or weaponize myth to control others for personal egocentric agendas. Ultimately many of his apparent teachings seem to be timeless: finding joy in living simply; understanding that heaven is within; etc. Lots of overlap with Budd…
If you think Jesus being a 'good guy' is the most important part of Jesus, that's absolutely missing the point of Christianity.
The Historicity of Jesus is such an interesting topic. There almost certainly was a man from Nazareth named Jesus (we have pretty good unbiased sources there). However, unless you are a follower of his (or potentially some related religions), there are obviously mystical things associated with him that you likely do not believe to actually have happened. Even followers disagree about the veracity of certain stories.…
The Historicity of Jesus is such an interesting topic. There almost certainly was a man from Nazareth named Jesus (we have pretty good unbiased sources there). However, unless you are a follower of his (or potentially some related religions), there are obviously mystical things associated with him that you likely do not believe to actually have happened. Even followers disagree about the veracity of certain stories.…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The important thing it seems is that his myth a part of our stories, and who we are, throughout a large part of the world. Myths tell us about ourselves. The sad thing is when people distort or weaponize myth to control others for personal egocentric agendas. Ultimately many of his apparent teachings seem to be timeless: finding joy in living simply; understanding that heaven is within; etc. Lots of overlap with Budd…
If you think Jesus being a 'good guy' is the most important part of Jesus, that's absolutely missing the point of Christianity.
It seems like it isn't an objective science as you're implying; how does one measure such a thing? There are so many garden paths that lead to horrible rigid dogmatism, which we know to be the case when reflecting on history.
What works for me is just incorporating the helpful parts that help me live a more harmonious life, while respecting philosophies of others and trying to do no harm. Perhaps not to you, but that is the point of Christianity to me.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Besides the bible what other source is there? Maybe Josephus? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus I'm not a historian but it says most accept the authenticity of the name mentioned and being persecuted but that it's been manipulated over time. At best you can argue Jesus existed. So what? At the time there were a number of apocalyptic preachers, hence the format of the book of Revelation. I'm shocked th…
Did you actually read the article? Or any of the other historical scholarship?
The whole article reads much more like a believer going on a quest to develop a more personal connection to events which they have faith occured. That's fine, and I'm sure is interesting to believers, but it did nothing to convince me of the historical Jesus.