With palms together,
There is an interesting article in the N Y Times today about a stone tablet found amid the Dead Sea Scrolls. Apparently it suggests that the notion of a suffering messiah who would rise in three days was a common belief in the century prior to the Christian Jesus.
The article suggests:
If such a messianic description really is there, it will contribute to a developing re-evaluation of both popular and scholarly views of Jesus, since it suggests that the story of his death and resurrection was not unique but part of a recognized Jewish tradition at the time.
Hmmm. The death and resurrection myth prior to Jesus' birth? It would seem this adds to the notion advance some decades ago by a Jewish scholar suggesting this whole Jesus script was a scheme to get Jesus recognized as the Messiah, that Jesus was aware of the things that needd to happen before they happened in order to meet the criteria.
And later:
Mr. Knohl said that it was less important whether Simon was the messiah of the stone than the fact that it strongly suggested that a savior who died and rose after three days was an established concept at the time of Jesus. He notes that in the Gospels, Jesus makes numerous predictions of his suffering and New Testament scholars say such predictions must have been written in by later followers because there was no such idea present in his day.
But there was, he said, and “Gabriel’s Revelation” shows it.
“His mission is that he has to be put to death by the Romans to suffer so his blood will be the sign for redemption to come,” Mr. Knohl said. “This is the sign of the son of Joseph. This is the conscious view of Jesus himself. This gives the Last Supper an absolutely different meaning. To shed blood is not for the sins of people but to bring redemption to Israel.”
Strange.
Link
Be well
This is true if one wants to appear completely uneducated. Quoting something without having read the material then making judgements about the entire work is not very good form. Take it from this former professor. One needs to put things in a context in order to get a clear understanding.
Lula, what I see consistently is that you refuse to study context. Its like you cherry pick, look for a quote that suits your purpose and then put it out there, case closed. Your feelings about the rabbis are fairly clear and based on a totally erroneous and uninformed understanding.
In our discussion of the Talmudic quotations, I believe I tried to put them into a context of a hostile environment between Christians and Jews. When a people is being oppresed chances are they are going to have something not so good to say about their oppressors. Yet, you consistently ignore your own religion's role in creating this hatred. For the most part, Jews of Talmudic times just wanted to be left alone and to be treated fairly. There are volumes of Talmudic discussion about how to be fair and accepting toward gentiles. But no...Christians can't seem to let my people alone. They have to try to convert us, get furious when we refuse, and get all self righteous about "their truth."
For millenia Jews have welcomed "strangers" into their midst. I must say, centuries of hatred has made this openness a tad difficult. Its hard not to be suspect of the motives of a Christian in our midst. You want to put your prayers in our public schools. You want to impose your understanding of moral conduct on us. You want Christ everywhere and the heck with those of us of other faiths, after all, we should one day come to Jesus, right?
Won't happen. And we will continue to challenge your attempts to bring about a government based on Christianity.
Be well.
Not so. We non-Christian theists only require a secular, pluralistic state. While I think Christian attempts at conversion are repugnant, I do understand that you think it is your obligation and I believe in a free country, your right. On the other hand, then, it is equally true that I, from my religious perspective, have the right to keep my faith and rebuke your attempts.
Lula, the fear underlying your conservativism is created by you. It is a hell of your own making. You fear others, you fear strangers with different ways. Your response is to try to make them believe as you do and to denigrate them when they don't. You want a free society to build religious beliefs into legal mandates, in the vain hope that this will require those others to believe (or at least behave) as you do. So you cast these others in the role of, what, misguided? Agents of Satan? Demon possessed? Vile? And then you inhabit the stage surrounded by those who are not only wrong, but out to destroy you. Its actually sad.
I pray for you, Lula, that you will release yourself from your fear and open yourself to true love.
Adonai, the Holy One, blessed be He.
A/K/A , the Absolute, the Infinite, Big Mind, Elohim, El Shaddai, the Universe. God is God by any name. The God that pervades the universe, is the universe and all that is in it.
Good Morning Everyone,
A theory is two or more variables that explain or predict something. A good theory should be empirically testable to have any use value.
Usually theory is constructed from observation first, then as concepts are isolated from observation, they are operationalized into empirically verifiable variables. We look to see if there are relationships between variables. Does a rudimentary scheme arise? All of this is what is called "qualitative" theory building. From here, the concepts, which have now become "variables" are quantified and a research design is implemented controling for threats to internal and external validity. An experiment is conducted based on the design and results examined. This is called "quantitative" research and basically "tests" theory. The former is theory that "explains" something we observe, the latter "tests" it.
Now, how does this little research lesson help us in this discussion?
NS.
It is important to differentiate between a religion and a people. Peoplehood does often appear "clanish". There is no separation between earthly and unearthly. There is just the Universe, a non-duality. Our attachment to concepts is another matter. Yet, attachment is really nothing more than a sense of investment in a particular outcome. i.e., 'having this will do that', etc. Some level of 'attachment' is necessary as we live in a relative world. Its the degree that creates the suffering.
With the exception of this phrase we are on a similar page. We have multiple frames of reference which can be understood as Big and Small or Absolute and Relative. Both exist in the same space and time. To live in the Absolute and ignore the Relative would be a disaster. We each need to get up in the morning, eat, go to work, keep to a schedule, etc...all Relative world tasks within a Relative Mind. Should we be "attached" to these? No. But at the same time, we must pay attention to them. Nor can we forget them.
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