89 chapter project: Matthew

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paradox3 said:
Do you see any inconsistency in this chapter?
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Well considering what he said in Matt 10. isn't it obvious. He came to set mother against daughter father against so teacher against student. etc. and now he saying "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." He sounds like a sociopath having fun with the gullible.
He has to be some kind of sociopath, to have that inflated sense of self importance.
 
Hi,
Pavlos Maros said:
All books whether they are sacred or not, fiction or fact contain some truth. Jae. that is a very poor answer.
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On this we can agree? Truth may be communicated by fiction or fact. The human brain processes information by two basic means. The rational hemisphere works with fact. The intuitive hemisphere works with metaphor. Ideally these two work collaboratively.

George
 
Hi,
paradox3 said:
If anyone else would like to check in with their approach to reading scripture, it might be helpful.
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I read the Bible as literature. Its genre being historical fiction. The diverse authors draw on historical experience and metaphorically represent that experience to communicate existential insight. The general theme of the Bible is the abuse of religious and political power leading to the exploitation and oppression of the land and its peoples. That abuse being countered by prophetic voices advocating for a just distribution of the available good. Jesus stands in the prophetic tradition of liberation.
paradox3 said:
John the Baptist sends out two disciples to look for Jesus. Jesus responds and sends back a message about His ministry.
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John wants to know if Jesus is the expected liberator. Jesus responds by pointing to his deeds of liberation. Those excluded by the dominant religious and political ideology are being included by his interventions. This in agreement with the mandate to justice expressed in Isaiah and professed as Jesus' mandate in the opening chapters of Luke.

Some here construe the Biblical narrative as the foundation of patriarchal power and privilege. These, whether they are theist or atheist, miss the point. The narrative is wholly concerned with the misuse and abuse of power in service to pride and privilege on the part of a minority to the hurt of the majority. This pattern readily available in even a cursory reading of history.

I am in agreement with those, theist or atheist, who notice the abuse of religion by persons seeking power and privilege. This in no way invalidates the legitimate role of religion in human history; a resort to story, song and ritual as the foundation of group identity. We see this in indigenous peoples on all continents. Hopefully, we also notice the genocidal trajectory of empirical ideology coming out of the enlightenment in Europe beginning at about the fifteenth century.

George
 
Hi,
Pavlos Maros said:
He has to be some kind of sociopath, to have that inflated sense of self importance.
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So why did the patriarchs of religion and politics find Jesus subversive of dominant norms and standards; to the point of killing him as a common criminal?

George
 
Then there's this on chaos ... even in literature:

In chaos, there is fertility.”
― Anais Nin
​
Someone said that it is hard to accept coincidence but without coincidence it is even harder!
 
GeoFee said:
Hi,
So why did the patriarchs of religion and politics find Jesus subversive of dominant norms and standards; to the point of killing him as a common criminal?

George
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Light of education and knowledge is not well liked in lesser people ... thus coincidental educational cuts to prepare us for more brutalism ... a view from on top or subversive?
 
“Invention, it must be humbly admitted, does not consist in creating out of void but out of chaos.”
― Mary Shelly​

Weird considering Mary Shelly's origins ... and works of literature ... about shocking hate! Sort of like one right out of the nest ...

The things and essences we need to experience before departure ... next step!
 
Pontifex Geronimo 13 said:
Thus George’s misrepresentations of scripture surpasses those of chansen and Pavlos.
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Says the guy who links rejection of scripture with rejection of WTC conspiracy theories. Again, Christianity has a stupidity problem, and you're not helping.

It's also telling that you are more concerned that people believe your *version* of the story, than it is they believe the story at all. You seem more put out by George's words than mine, which has me upset that I don't rank above George. You need your version of your beliefs validated, and not only are you not getting that, you're making it worse by appealing to other things that are without evidence as kindred beliefs.

No one is buying your bulls**t here, except the people coming up with the most asinine statements imaginable. Your combined pool of credibility is bone dry.
 
GeoFee said:
Hi,
So why did the patriarchs of religion and politics find Jesus subversive of dominant norms and standards; to the point of killing him as a common criminal?

George
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They didn't. We are talking about a book of fiction with fictional characters. There may have been an itinerent rabbi named jesus at the time. but there is nothing recorded with that name outside the bible, so there is no way of being sure. And as for what this person is attributed to have said or done is pure hearsay, simply because there is no evidence for such a person.
There was never a biblical magic man jesus as the book claims either. That is just to absurd.

George if you wish to discuss the story for the stories merits fine, but as if it was real no sorry, cant be done.
 
Pavlos Maros said:
They didn't. We are talking about a book of fiction with fictional characters. There may have been an itinerent rabbi named jesus at the time. but there is nothing recorded with that name outside the bible, so there is no way of being sure. And as for what this person is attributed to have said or done is pure hearsay, simply because there is no evidence for such a person.
There was never a biblical magic man jesus as the book claims either. That is just to absurd.

George if you wish to discuss the story for the stories merits fine, but as if it was real no sorry, cant be done.
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Just curious....how do you discount 27 separate books that were written about Jesus (at different dates)that just happened to have been joined together into the Bible? And depending on which bible you read there are more books gathered together. Also the collection from Nag Hamadi mentions Jesus also.
Have you made the mistake as viewing the entire Bible as one source only?
 
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