appear to be none - then their role is either as helpful (but dispensable) teachers or as ideals and examplars. The truth is in the teaching, not in the
teacher-savior.
one thing is certain:
There is very
Like
4. Daleiden, Joseph L., The Final Superstition, p. 174:
little, if anything, that is original in the teaching attributed to Jesus. the myth of Jesus itself, the sentiments he expresses are a hodgepodge of aphorisms and moral convictions that can be found in the ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Buddhist, Confucian, and Hindu religions... But
Christianity, a late-comer in the history of religion, merely plagiarized sentiments from Judaism and the so called pagan religions. In his book Sources of Morality in the Gospels, Joseph McCabe quoted the moral views attributed to Jesus in the gospels and in parallel columns gave exact moral equivalents from Jewish and pagan writers.
view was that of his time.
Dead Sea Scrolls.
7. franchement,
5. Daleiden, Joseph L., Ibid., p. 177: Tragically, this is one of the few promises that history shows Jesus was successful in fulfiling.
6. Pike, James A., A Time for Christian Candor, p. 109: Jesus' world-
The concept of the Kingdom of God which he stressed was that introduced into Judaism in the fifth century B.C., under Zoroastrian influence. He was influenced by the teaching of the Essenes, as is growing more and more evident with the availability of translations of the
He had a limited mind - as is true of every man. For example, like his fellow rabbis he thought that David wrote all the Psalms and hence he quotes as of Davidic authorship Psalm 110 (which in fact is of later date) in an argument with the Pharisees.
with the apocalyptic temper of his day, that the end of the world is near.
Le Cléricalisme, Voilà L'Ennemi, P. 6: Nous le déclarons très
intolérable qu'à
d'enseignement, qui que ce soit puisse éoever des enfants contre leur pays
il nous
parait
et contre leur temps.
8.
hate his disciples (Matthew 24:9). convey his meaning.
And he thought, in accord
la faveur de
la liberté
Their separation is
He had taught that they
Edgar, Jones, Jesus: The Rock of Offense, p. 68-69: People who respond to the call to belong to the little flock come, like Jesus, out of a nativity associated with nations of the world. They are no more participants in the nations of the world, nor do they wish to be.
effected both by a change in their personal loyalty and by the response of the world: hatred. Jesus experienced the intense hatred of the nation. In this he served as an example for his disciples.
were to be hated by all nations. Therefore there is no nation that does not
He always chose his words with care to
Whenever he said, "all nations", he meant exactly that. Also, of this we may be sure: whoever is not hated by all the nations of the world has no part in the little flock. Jesus said expressly that such would be hated by all nations. This, then, becomes a criterion by which we evaluate our hope of sharing in the inheritance of the Kingdom. Remember his word: You shall be hated by all nations (Matthew 24:9)
common with the nations.
We change our personal loyalty because we no longer have much in
We share neither father, nor family, nor treasure, nor quest, nor life, nor friend, nor wnemy. He cancels the loyalty of the first nativity and replaces it with a new one arising from a second