LINK What We Believe: What Scripture Says of Jesus | Simply Catholic
I'd like to know one thing...
If anyone gets further than:
To know what we believe, we must read Scripture. But what does the Bible say about Jesus?
Please fill me in. I simply could not go farther. 
4
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12 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.It’s actually amazing how the Romans meshed the Old Testament and New Testament together. In the Old Testament Jesus was not a savior but a warrior king that would free the Jews from their oppressors. The Romans turned Jesus into a passive savior who taught to turn the other cheek and to render to Caesar what belongs to caesar
abyers1970
Level 7
Jan 28, 2022
0
In order to believe what Scripture says about Jesus we have to first ask what writings outside of, and contemporaneous to, Scripture corroborate it.
There appear to be no Roman, Greek, Jewish or pagan accounts of Jesus written during the time he was purported to have lived. Not only are there no accounts, there's no mention of him anywhere.
Christians will pull Josephus out of their collective ass, but ignore that he didn't write about Jesus, but rather about his followers. His acknowledgment of Christians was written long after Jesus supposedly died, says only that Christians existed and what they believed.
The parts of the Josephus writings that Christians are fond of using do not appear in copies of his work until about 300 years after his death, having been added by scribes during the copying.
The earliest Gospel, Mark, didn't appear until about 40 years after Jesus supposedly died. Matthew, Luke and John appear significantly after and are based on Mark.
The Epistles, and Paul's ministry, happened before the Gospels were written and make no mention of any of the Gospel stories.
So...
What seems more likely?
That Jesus lived, and for three years, performed astounding miracles and built a huge following without anybody thinking him important enough to write about?
That this extraordinary man dies and is instantly forgotten, except by a small number of people, who say nothing of his earthly life?
And then 40 years later, people start remembering him again?
OR
That Jesus never existed, and his cult borrowed heavily from existing mythologies and combined them with Jewish tradition?
Toonman
Level 6
Dec 8, 2021
2
It appears that Eusebius forged the testamonium flavium. Not some anonymous scribe.
@Toonman not authoritative but full of sources;
[en.wikipedia.org]
The topic is, of course and as usual, very nuanced. I even learned a few things reading the article. Have fun.
The whole scripture thing is a sham. First, they claim you must read the scriptures, but the catholic version, that just then and there raises a flag. The catholics banned many gospels that did not fit their version of things, this was done way back by Constantine, the emperor and pope that wanted to prove all the bs in the scripture was true by presenting "evidence" of made up relics and sites, like the sepulcre in israel, nails from the cross, splinters from the cross and an assortment of crap that nobody dared question but any historian since civilization produced scholars could easily debunk as fake, yet since people believe in this fakes the by remains unchallenged by them as we speak. Needless to say, there are many gospels that were banned, called now the apocryphal gospels, from Judas, from Mary Magdalene, etcetera, which show that the scrolls are just a bunch of writings done to fit a certaim narrative but all just fiction, nothing historical can be proved since then. Ergo, bullshit over bullshit equals bullshit. Some amusing fictional stories but nothing else. All christians, and all religious book followers from any of the major religions can be equated to the qanon followers that continue gathered in Daly plaza waiting for JFK and his son to materialize there. A bunch of gullible idiots.
Mofo1953
Level 9
Dec 8, 2021
2
Paragraphs. Just saying...
Not really, no.
All I did was make a suggestion. One that would probably help you get your point across to people better.
I made it because what you'd put down was so difficult to read I couldn't engage with your ideas. You obviously thought they were worthy of sharing. I wanted to help you make doing that easier.
If you wouldn't mind breaking the text up into paragraphs, I, and others, could actually discuss what you have to say with you.
It bums me out that the only response you've gotten from anybody is me, and it's about THIS rather than the content. I bet that if you were to reformat your comment into paragraphs you would get more responses from others that actually had to do with what you wrote rather than from one person about how you wrote it.
It's true I might be a busybody, but I'd like to think that if that's the case that it comes from a good place. I just would like to be able to read what you wrote.
I read your profile bio. You seem smart. I'm sure you'd like for your ideas to be understood.
Your hostility toward me serves no constructive purpose. Doing the paragraph thing might.
Whether you do it or not, have a good day. It's Friday, and I hope your life gives you weekends off.
A nice Jewish boy who was a constant disappointment to his mother.
Can't you find a nice girl and make me a grandmother already?
That Maggie girl? What?
Are you too picky?
You think you're gods gift?
BufftonBeotch
Level 8
Dec 7, 2021
6
All religions are human made fairytales.
xenoview
Level 8
Dec 7, 2021
5
@Gwendolyn2018 Pedantic antics with semantics. Epic.
If these things are the case, then you're educated enough to know that xenoview was speaking figuratively, right?
@Gwendolyn2018 Humans created religion to control other people. Some people call religion myths and some call it fairytales. Either one works for me.
@Gwendolyn2018 It's obvious he's speaking figuratively, and should be especially obvious to somebody with your level of education.
There was a time when my group believed according to scripture. We believed the 4 gospels in the bibble even if the stories did contradict. We knew this was the word of our god. We were right and all the rest were wrong.The trouble is, people of the world from any faith believe the exact same thing.
DenoPenno
Level 9
Dec 7, 2021
3
@SeaGreenEyez God never spoke to me neither even though I once studied to preach about him. They tell me Sarah Palin speaks to him on her cell phone and I've also been in churches where a person would stand up to testify he was talking to god back in the corner during waling church prayers. My church once said you are nobody until you hear god call your name. Working underneath my car once in an apartment complex I heard my name called. How would I know it was god?
@SeaGreenEyez
My aunt once told my dad (her brother) that her daughter who had become a religious zealot nut job that she was disappointed she hadn't experienced talking in tongues, or something else her religion practiced. My dad was irreligious at that point and he later said his suggestion was just to fake it. As far as he was concerned, all his niece's fellow parishioners were faking it, so why not my cousin too.
Read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John These books tell all you need to know about Jesus. Of course, be aware that these stories are really fables.
nicknotes
Level 8
Dec 7, 2021
7
Even when they directly contradict themselves
One fact that theists don't like being reminded of is that the first gospel "Mark"does not have the nativity scene. This was no doubt added in the later gospels to make him more godlike and closely resembles earlier god/men. Born of a virgin in humble surroundings etc,
@Moravian The Gospel of John also lacks a nativity story.
Matthew and Luke have two vastly different nativity stories that serve to retcon Jesus' birthplace from Nazareth to Bethlehem in order to more readily make Old Testament messianic prophecies better fit their narrative.
These stories have been conflated into one all-purpose narrative, even though each Gospel was written to make two different points to two different audiences. Not necessarily to "make him more godlike", but to sell to non-Christians his legitimacy as the Jewish Messiah (Matthew) or the savior of the world (Luke).
It is all just marketing, trying to sell people something. It is the same whether it is a car or an idea.
Sticks48
Level 9
Dec 7, 2021
5
@SeaGreenEyez Agree, but even when it started out it was marketing. That is why they had to have miracles. Those people back then were not going to buy into the "pease and love" message anymore than they do now, hence he was more than a man with a message, he could perform "miracles". Why in the world people still buy into pretty much any religion is very hard to comprehend. I guess it is the fear of mortality.
Sorry, I can't help.
Trying to justify anyone's particular religious beliefs based on the "scriptures" is a complete waste of time.
You know, since all "holy" books are nothing but fiction anyway.
KKGator
Level 9
Dec 7, 2021
4
@SeaGreenEyez Well, they aren't the brightest bulbs on the tree. 
What does the Bhagavad Gita say about jesus? The Vegas? All other religious texts? One religious text is as good and believable as another.
jlynn37
Level 8
Dec 7, 2021
3
@SeaGreenEyez There are some buddhist that treat budda as a god.
Vedas.
@SeaGreenEyez Buddhism allows for the belief in a deity but doesn't require it.
The Dalai Lama has said many times that a person can practice a religion alongside the practice of Buddhism because Buddhism isn't a religion but rather a way of doing things.
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