I won't keep dragging this out I promise, but I do feel that your comments are worthy of another detailed reply.
But since this is 2004, about 1600ish years since a certain Roman emperor co-opted the saviour's message for political gain, I just don't buy into what the cult of his personality became.
I know too many self righteous bigots, that rationalize their spoon-fed hate behind the words of a few editors of another man's word.
2004, 3056, 4055... the principal themes of Jesus' life, death and resurrection have and will remain the same. I don't claim to follow the teachings of the Catholic (or any other) church to the tee, nor do all Christians. Churches and their bylaws are creations of man and so by definition are inherently flawed. The protestant movement helped make available to the common man the original scriptures, and in modern day many ancillary texts have been discovered that support the authenticity and originality of these scriptures (dead sea scrolls). I believe that the person of Jesus Christ as well as his divinity was preserved quite well in the scriptures, although clearly, corrupt men have attempted to hide, bend and pervert these texts in order to meet their own ends.
I know many of these self righteous bigots you speak of as well. They leave me feeling outraged and have caused me to question what I believe over the years as well. As difficult as it is I make a conscious effort to remind myself that my faith does not and cannot rely on Christ's followers, or the man made institutions that bear his name, but rather on Jesus' own person. I believe it IS possible to cut through all the needless fringe that is this man made religious dogma and find truth directly within the scriptures.
In my opinion, only sheep need an otherworldly incentive to do good and be good in this life.
Being good in life for the sake of being good and not in anticipation of some heavenly scooby snack when it is all over is an admirable ambition but consider this: Jesus states in the gospels that he was in fact the son of God, and that he and the Father are one. He performed miraculous feats as signs of his divinity (amongst other reasons). He stated that we will not enter the kingdom of God through good works alone. He also states that he is the way, the truth and the light and that no man may enter the kingdom but through him.
There are now really only three possibilities in regards to the person of Jesus Christ:
1. He was a liar... a cult leader looking to recruit followers through deceit and trickery.
2. He was emotionally deranged and suffered deeply from delusions of grandeur.
3. He was/is in fact a deity and died to pay the price of mankind's sins, offering us life that is not bound by death.
If Jesus were anything other than #3 I really couldn't be too bothered about him. There are plenty of other great philosophers both alive and dead who can teach you how to be a nice person.
Without getting to deeply into apologetics here I will simply say that I believe that there is a strong body of evidence that argues Jesus IS in fact God incarnate. If you're interested in reading these arguments you can look into the writings of C.S. Lewis (a man who set out to finally disprove the existence of God and found himself coming face to face with him), Ravi Zacharias, or Josh MacDowell. Even if you still walk away with your old beliefs you will at least know the arguments for Christ being the Messiah.
Anyway, that is it for my little soapbox sermon
Now we take you back to your regularly scheduled programing.
SG
