Jesus studied buddhism in India and studied with Celtic Druids in England?

When did I or anyone else say he was a Buddhist, TheIt?

BTW, no matter what you think, God didn't write the Bible. Man did. And men with agendas other than what you believe have handled it ever since. It's hardline fundamentalist whackos who ruin its message for everyone. It's just a collection of stories intended to teach its ideas about how to be a better, happier human being. And a lot of them are borrowed from other religions. I'm glad that JC was wise enough to realize that buddhism and judaism did not necessarily conflict. Even my Catholic priest agrees with that.

 

So in your view the bible has no authority and very little validity. You are ok to believe whatever you want to believe because there is no authority to tell you differently. You believe that God has basically been hands off for all of human history. You do not believe that he inspired men to write the bible so in your view he has not spoken to us at all.

You are entitled to your beliefs but I reject them and take offense at being accused of ruining the message. How can I ruin the message to you when there never was one to start with?

 

Yeah Harry. You best stop blasphemin' in here.

 

Sorry I missed it. I usually make it a point to watch shows like this, especially with contrarian or non-traditional theories.

Agree that Jesus wasn't looking to start a "new religion". I think the purpose of His ministry was twofold -- get Judaism where God intended it to be, and secondly to make the same interaction between God and man available to everyone.

 

Pharisees wouldn't have gone out of their way to have a humble bricklayer tortured and crucified.

 

Do you know why people hate you on this forum? It's becuase of bullshit like this. I could teach a class on logical fallacies based on your last post to me alone, and cover every one of the 16 primary ones that are usually taught.

The Bible has plenty of "authority" and "validity" to me. There are absolute truths about the nature of man told in its parables that cannot be denied (IMO). Those do not include the close minded fundamentalist traditions that you hold more scared than the lessons themselves.

A long time ago, that book was heavily adulterated and Jesus was recast historically into a figure that gave the Church the power it needed to contest Kings and Emporers on political issues. All mention of Christ's wife was removed, to preserve his supposed divinity and keep women on lesser standing than men. Heinous acts and politcial power moves were committed in the name of heavily selected passages and portions that comprised that book. All by flawed human beings who wrote it and then used it to forward their own goals. One of my favorites to this day was the time period when the Catholic Church, loving its revenues, allowed you to prepay for your sins. "I think I'll commit adultery Saturday, let me stop off at the church and lay a couple of coins on Father John. SWEEEET".

I continue to seek a simpler, more profound truth than what has evolved in generations of all that baggage and manipulation. There's a message there, but you have to peel off the ruined layers to get to it. The wisdom is hidden in the stories, not in the rock show glamour or gavel banging authoritarianism of chest pounding fundamentalists. It's simple and quiet but undeniable, rather than loudmouthed and definitive. One time, I told our priest I felt that way about it, and instead of being angry or contradictory he smiled and congratulated me. That was a satisfying moment.

 

That was the collective conclusion of the show's "experts".

 

The stumbling block I see to that theory though, is what happened to his closest followers. The only one who was not martyred was John, who was exiled. None renounced Him. I find it hard to believe that 11 out of 11 who had the choice between confessing Jesus wasn't God or horribly painful death would choose the latter if He was just a "normal" everyday Jew.

 

They didn't say that he stayed a simple bricklayer, only that he knew the trade and worked it for some time. You don't hear much about that part of his life in Church. The age he began his mission seems to be (by consensus) around 30 or so, possibly late twenties.

 

FWIW, a few scholars also contended that Jesus' ministry (post John's death) was rather short. As little as 3 months, and probably nor more than a year. He was supposedly too much of a threat to the Romans, and became a marked man.