Nothing below your first sentence has anything to do with truth or Truth. No one can know for sure, but good authorities on the subject say it is quite possible and likely that Jesus didn't exist, but that the stories were contrived in a updating and recasting of other earlier myths and texts.
I would argue that according to some scriptures, Jesus WAS nationalistic. He stated that he came ONLY for the lost sheep of Israel and he compared non-Jews to dogs.It was Paul who took the Jesus message to the Gentiles.
So only converted Jews should have followed his teachings anyway? (If he did exist). But what about the Good Samaritan and Acts where it says whoever fears god and dies right by him will be saved, or words to that effect.
@girlwithsmiles Yes. One of the passages that has wreaked havoc on humans. Also comes with Muslim belief.
@girlwithsmiles @girlwithsmiles This is how we can know that the bible is not the word of any god but is human created; and it explains why there are so many different Christian sects and competing views of Jesus: the writings about him are contradictory. The gospels disagree. with each other. And other New Testament books contradict each other.
Jesus started out a Jew in every sense of the word and early gospels show this. It was later (post Paul) that he was turned into the messiah for all mankind; and by the writings of John--THE GOD of the universe.
I think there was a person, likely named Yeshua, who existed and had some sort of small, faithful, following and was most likely put to death. PAUL, or whoever wrote under this persona, and those who followed him, turned this person into something he never was, nor ever claimed to be.
Christians are actually Paulists and they don't even know it.
@Joanne mmm yes I realised that the bible was contradictory in Sunday school, but never hung around long enough to learn the history of why. I only know about Paul’s homophobia because a friend did his dissertation on it!
There IS NO truth in Religion, neither is Religion based upon Truth.
They are tales of morbid brains.
There was never a Jesus.
The one in fiction is as cool as Gandalf.
The one Americans worship is a MAGA fool.
Are you trying to annoy every GOP person in the country?
Definite plus.
truth hurts sometime!
If, and that is a big if in my opinion, Jesus did exist at all, he would have been those things for sure. National Geographic had a good picture of what a real Jesus would have looked in one of their issues like some years back.
@DangerDave My thoughts exactly. And the whole motif.
The generated face in this article has been used a fair bit, and I’ve never seen an artwork with a face like it on: [popularmechanics.com]
I think Monty Python's Life of Brian is instructive here. "How do you know the woman is a witch?" She turned me into a newt. John Cleese made a face for the ages in response to that. About the mentality of a Trumpanzee.