Rats, I screwed up my HTML and LJ ate my post. I think I said something like...
"What the Gospel According to Jesus suggests (if I remember correctly... it's been a long time) is that much of the brimstone and fire stuff was put in Jesus' mouth by church officials decades later."
Well, the problem is that it was ALL put in Jesus' mouth decades later. The first gospel was written down around 70 CE, i.e. around 40 years after Jesus' death. People like the Jesus Seminar have tried to reconstruct what is most historically accurate, but I don't think they're going on too much more than emotional reaction and reason, either.
I'd also quibble with the term "church officials"; the first century church just wasn't all that organized, and there were people running around with all kinds of ideas about Jesus and writing all kinds of gospels. My impression is that there wasn't enough of a hierarchy to really suppress anything effectively! So I do think that the second-generation believers' interpretation of Jesus' life may not be the only fruitful one, but I don't think anyone was deliberately trying to misquote Jesus.
As for our own reason and experience as our best barometer, and God being a pretty smart guy, I agree (except for the "guy" part!). Personally I'm not all that concerned about the afterlife, if there is one. I think God wants me to live this life as best I can, and trust that the rest (if there is something else) will work itself out. I don't think God would be happy with the idea of embracing a religion out of fear.
FWIW I'd be interested in reading what you write about in your LJ, if you would care to friend me. No worries if not.
no subject
"What the Gospel According to Jesus suggests (if I remember correctly... it's been a long time) is that much of the brimstone and fire stuff was put in Jesus' mouth by church officials decades later."
Well, the problem is that it was ALL put in Jesus' mouth decades later. The first gospel was written down around 70 CE, i.e. around 40 years after Jesus' death. People like the Jesus Seminar have tried to reconstruct what is most historically accurate, but I don't think they're going on too much more than emotional reaction and reason, either.
I'd also quibble with the term "church officials"; the first century church just wasn't all that organized, and there were people running around with all kinds of ideas about Jesus and writing all kinds of gospels. My impression is that there wasn't enough of a hierarchy to really suppress anything effectively! So I do think that the second-generation believers' interpretation of Jesus' life may not be the only fruitful one, but I don't think anyone was deliberately trying to misquote Jesus.
As for our own reason and experience as our best barometer, and God being a pretty smart guy, I agree (except for the "guy" part!). Personally I'm not all that concerned about the afterlife, if there is one. I think God wants me to live this life as best I can, and trust that the rest (if there is something else) will work itself out. I don't think God would be happy with the idea of embracing a religion out of fear.
FWIW I'd be interested in reading what you write about in your LJ, if you would care to friend me. No worries if not.