thread: 2007-01-04 : Self-identification vs. Membership
On 2007-01-09, Valamir wrote:
NinJ "...and remember that my understanding isn't required for them to exist;"
Interestingly, coming to grips with that exact sentiment on a personal level really made life and dealing with people a helluva lot easier.
With regards to Jesus being a "dude". He pretty much was. Most all of our sense of Jesus as "The Christ" was inserted into the tradition by Paul. Evidence is sparse, but a case can be made that other followers of Jesus (such as Peter and James) did not emphasize his divinity to any similar degree. Its entirely possible (plausible even) that Jesus never claimed divinity, but rather that it was claimed for him.
Its super crazy fascinating (and not a little bit scary) to realize exactly how much of the global religion known broadly as Christianity (in all its many flavors) was essentially invented in the mind of one guy...Paul. And on the basis of his self testimony of being struck blind on the road to Damascus the church(es)accept that these things he invented are actually divinely inspired and not a work of fiction. Today we'd call that guy a wacko cult leader but because he wrote 2000 years ago (and wrote well enough for his writings to be considered among the highest works of ancient literature by Greek scholars) we call him an Apostle.
Funny that.
But the fact that 80% of the New Testament was written by Paul or his followers and therefor may be either divinely inspired or the fevered ramblings of the world's first wacko Christian Cultist (take your pick) has never been a faith shaking issue for me.
All churches are the invention of man, and man is fallible. So while uncovering and documenting the numerous fallicies man has made can be really entertaining, its hardly a surprise and therefor doesn't faze me much when it comes to my relationship with God.
I prefer my faith undiluted by church dogma silliness. That way the only mistakes I have to worry about are my own.
