<<If a story, a saying, or any combination of words holds real wisdom, helps people live better lives, and reveals some higher truth, does it matter if it came from Jesus, Buddha, the kid down the block, or 10,000 monkeys pounding on 10,000 typewriters?>>
Interesting question! No, of course it does not matter where real wisdom comes from. Anyone who is really open to higher truth is essentially open in an ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm kind of way, receptive to the message, regardless of the messenger.
The problem with Jesus and Christianity is that much is attributed to Jesus which did not come from his mouth. Little-known stuff, like the fact that Paul met him only once, and that Jesus never said one word about homosexuality, seems to fall by the wayside. And some Christians seem uncomfortable with even the fact that Jesus was a Jew, or that he had dark skin, and very probably didn't have blue eyes, either.
I question whether this person--who obviously had charisma and was so vibrant that people remembered him after his death--would approve of much that has happened since his death in regard to all of the violence and bigotry that are associated with some aspects and historical periods of Christian history.
The Jesus Seminar is attempting to separate the essential teachings of Jesus from the myths, legends and distortions that have grown up around him. I think that is a very interesting thing to try and do. I have trouble understanding why people who are Christians would feel threatened by that. I mean, what is it that they are really worshipping? What are REAL Christian values? Can you be a Christian and be about exclusivity and violence and hatred? Is Jesus held in high esteem by people who do not know who he was? How can you worship someone or something that you do not understand? To me, those are the important questions. |
