Re-Tweets | Apology to Christians
#FirstCuppaJoe for Fri Oct 7
(c)2022 by Vernon Miles Kerr and VernonMilesKerr.com
This is an apology to all sincere Christians who are happy in their faith and with whatever organized church they may be attending. My Twitter bio says,
“Care-giver for those suffering PTSD due to a dip into #OrganizedReligion. Free permission slips to ignore the Bible. God is fine with that.”
So, if you—as a Christian—are happy where you are, you have my blessing to block me, unfollow me, ghost me, or whatever.
If you are a Christian who is unhappy, feeling abused or full of doubts, where you are, read on…
I am a fan of the historical Jesus and his teachings about LOVE and HUMILITY.
Unfortunately, the only historical mention of Jesus is in a brief account by the Jewish historian, Josephus. One HAS to go to the Bible for the rest of the story. But, caveat, that “story” was an oral tradition for nearly a century before it was put in writing in the codex, the “Q” source. I suspect much of the plot is true, BUT, the “miracles” listed could be embellishment by early church leaders in order to “sell” their nascent religion. I repeat, “Could be.”
The Old-Testament-God, which I’ve said sounds like it was created in “man’s” image, was the same “God,” which Jesus read about in the Torah. That particular God, thought that ten COMMANDMENTS were more important than His putting anything at all on those tablets about Jesus’s main focus: Love and Humility.
The Torah, Jesus was familiar with is the same as today’s Old Testament. It focused on authority from God, down through a priesthood, down through a rabbinate, down to the father of a family, on downward to the wife and finally the children. Although Jesus spoke “with authority,” he didn’t rule his disciples with authority. Rather, he spoke to them more Socratically using rhetorical questions, similes, and parables.
This raises the most important question: did Jesus preach a judgment in the afterlife? Did he preach punishment in an afterlife? According to one Biblical scholar, no. Why did Jesus not preach about the very thing from which Evangelical Christianity says he “saves” you from?
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/31/824479587/heaven-and-hell-are-not-what-jesus-preached-religion-scholar-says