I have been doing some reading on Jesus

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[–]Vulptex 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

How do you KNOW that the Christianity passed down the ages is correct? Don’t beg the question, give evidence or arguments.

Jesus said you would not be popular if you follow him. He said this to an almost entirely Jewish audience, so you can't use the excuse that he only meant outsiders would hate you. Was the Judaism passed down in his day correct? Of course not! Why would Christianity be any different? Look at Christians today; who do they resemble more, Jesus or Pharisees? It's definitely the latter. In fact go read the sermon on the mount, Christians usually preach the exact opposite of everything he says there! He was against the world and everything it stands for, naturally he doesn't find many supporters in it.

You ask why he would "fail and become obscure". Yet he did say this would happen, and it's because he would have to force people to believe otherwise. Paul struggled to understand the same thing, which is why he said this:

since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased through the foolishness of the proclamation to save those having faith. Since Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we proclaim Anointed crucified, to Jews a snare and to Gentiles foolishness; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the unborn things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no flesh can boast, so that, just as it is written: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

So according to you, what is the point of Christianity? Jesus might as well have never bothered to incarnate if the best his followers can do is read tea leaves.

Judaism was true. But then they rejected their messiah. The messiah they will accept is around the corner.

Christianity is true, in my view, because He was a real person and the historical behavior of the his witnesses is compatible with the truth of the resurrection. No other religion has that.

That what people say is true or false has nothing to do with hypocrisy. That is just an ad hominem, and hypocrites will be punished.

[–]Vulptex 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

No, the scribes and Pharisees were already evil. They wanted a messiah who would give them world domination and wealth and power. They hated Jesus because he wouldn't do that. He didn't play favorites and let them get away with crimes just because they were Jewish. And scribes were already changing things at least as far back as the time of Jeremiah.

Most Christians today have a very similar ideal messiah: one who will torment everyone they don't like and let them share in a reign of corrupt power. Dare say things like "turn the other cheek" amongst them and they will crucify you. The only reason they even like Jesus is because they think he's traditional for some reason, they hate everything he teaches. As much as they love their Bible they never seem to use it except for Genesis 2:2, Levitucus 18:22 and 20:13, Deuteronomy 22:5, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 11:3-16 and 14:34-35, the pastoral epistles, the catholic epistles, and Revelation 6-21. They especially despise anything out of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. They just want Jesus to hand them a reign of terror over everyone else.

Jesus accomplished two things by coming to earth. First, he witnessed to people who wouldn't have gotten it otherwise. Second, he accomplished the most important thing in the world: clearing us of all charges for all the evil things we've done. By the way, there are some versions of Christianity that believe Jesus was never actually present on earth, but that it's an allegory to represent what happened in the spiritual realm. The writer of John seems to take this perspective, since John the Baptist had to come as a witness to all of this and everyone had to believe through him. Possibly Paul too, since he never once quotes Jesus or mentions things he did other than getting crucified and rising from the dead. I am not convinced but I have an open mind.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Why should I not think Old Testament Judaism was the true religion, in spite of the Jews being evil hypocrites?

Why can't Christianity be true even if most Christians are evil hypocrites?

Christians tell me the scriptures mean different things from what you say. Why are they wrong?

[–]Vulptex 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

The same reason Jews told us the scriptures mean different things. First of all they only focus on a fewselect verses they can use to promote an agenda, and any issues with forgery or human fallibility are dismissed under the guise of inerrancy, a doctrine whoch the book itself clearly denies in Jeremiah 7-8 and all the evidence shows there has been a lot of changes. Paul's letters are especially mangled.

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Scripture is corrupted... makes sense. But if scripture is corrupted how can we know what Jesus taught?

[–]Vulptex 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

How could people who lived before anything was written down know? There was a concept called the Air of Holiness or Wind of Holiness. You will not find it in your Bible because it is translated as Holy Spirit. This translation does not make sense, because it is always used as something given to and indwelling in believers, not a person. This was how all divine revelations, visions, prophecies, and teachings were conveyed. But every time, an institution pops up claiming it's no longer available, and the only path of divine communication is through them. We saw the Israelite temple and priests do it, the Catholic church did it, and so on. If not, they claim some canon of scripture is the ultimate authority, and insist on a particular interpretation of it. It's all a scam.

I'll also say that the corruption in the gospels isn't too bad. Matthew's got some Judaizing interpolations and Luke was definitely revised in the second century along with Paul. John shows signs of orthodox interference as well. Secret Mark could be the original version of Mark. But in general Jesus's actual teachings were left alone. Even the additions to Luke are usually in line and probably just oral traditions that hadn't been written down yet, with only a little bit of anti-Marcionite polemics. The one they really corrupted badly is Paul. I think it's so bad that he didn't write the majority of his letters, and yes I'm talking about the 7 he actually wrote. That's why they're way too long to be letters from the first century. Most of the letters from the other disciples are complete forgeries.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Okay, the Holy Spirit tells you the truth? How does it communicate with you, and how do you distinguish it from demons who teach contrary things to occultists and New Agers?