Quote:
Originally Posted by Timotheist
I am trying to prove that the VB did NOT happen. Ultimately a fool's errand, I suppose. But the evidence against far outweighs the evidence for, even if you stay within the canon. Go outside the canon and the evidence mounts.
|
Trying to prove a negative is definitely foolish. Issues like this must be judged on the basis of historic probability not ultimate truth.
Quote:
|
Regarding the authenticity of miracles, I don't know what to think. Surely he did something to catch their attention and devotion? Was it just words? Perhaps. I would have found it incredible to believe what Jim Jones was able to accomplish with just words. But he did it.
|
Jesus astounded people. He demonstrated a level of acceptance and compassion that healed people! He broke the moral ethical mold of the society into which he was born. The standard he set by his life and teaching is still a challenge for anyone to follow today. That's where we should be focusing our attention instead of on miracles that were in the cast in the mythos of first century pre-scientific world-views.
Quote:
|
Given the one-ups-manship going on between the Jews, Greeks, and the Christians at that time (and the Romans were just getting started), it is not surprising to see these embellishments evolve. I used to not care so much about this stuff, once I had given up on inerrancy. Big deal, who cares. But once I saw that the VB was part of the embellishment, and saw the negative impact it had on the path Christianity took, I became more aware and cared.
|
I appreciate that. The New Testament was written almost entirely from the standpoint of the gentile mission. Most of the Jewish Jesus followers of Palestine united with the other Jews to form rabbinical Judaism after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. The few that remained like the Ebionites and the Nazarenes were considered heretics by the proto-orthodox Christians. The "negative impact" as I see it, is that the church got away from the values that Jesus lived and taught thus becoming dogmatic and violent. I suppose the up-side is that by adopting the dominant Roman ethos and government of the time, the church survived and thrived to pass on the Christian tradition albeit in an adulterated way. If it hadn't, Jesus might have been forgotten or relegated to a footnote of history as a dead or marginal religion.