On Christianity

I had attended many, many church services, sang hymns, been told the well known stories of Jesus but I hadn't read the Bible. I think this is actually very common. i assumed that the New Testament simply said what are the dogma of Christianity, that Jesus plainly said that he was God, part of a Trinity, and that if you were good, kind and humble you went to Heaven after you died, and if you were naughty you went to Hell after you died.

In order to converse reasonably intelligently on this forum I have since spent some time researching what the Bible actually says. This has been a real eye-opener. In my estimation Jesus never plainly says the things that I thought he said. All of these things are either made up after Jesus had been dead for some time (the Trinity, Heaven and Hell are after you are dead) or inferred from somewhat vague phrases (I am the way. Before Abraham I am. The Son of God (also used by recent predecessor Caesar Augustus)).

Here are some portions of the New Testament that I think are vital when considering what was Jesus and what was he teaching.

Matthew 3: 1-2 1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (This is Jesus speaking).

Mark 13 2-4 2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

Mark 13:30 I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

Mathew 16: 28 - "Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom".

Luke 17:19-21 - When he was asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The Kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed the Kingdom of God is within you."

Matthew 5 17-18 17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

Luke 24 4-7 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”

Luke 18:19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

Mark 15 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

Luke 24:39 - See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me,and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having.

So from these passages I get that Jesus was a faithful Jew who believed that the Kingdom of Heaven was on the Earth, before death, within people, and about to happen. He believed in a time of great tribulation including the destruction of the Temple within the same generation in which all his prophecies would come true. He said he was not God. When crucified he was forlorn because his predictions had not come true and he was simply dying before his prophecies had come true. After crucifixion he was living and not a spirit and still had the wounds of crucifixion.

The important thing for me is that these are not things said about Jesus or John the Baptist but rather direct quotes from them. The inferences I make from these quotes are simple and plain and do not require vast amounts of inference and metaphor. In the face of these quotes (which I am astonished have not been removed from the Bible) I find myself frankly amazed that Christian dogma is what it is.

I believe Jesus (and John the Baptist) believed he was an apocalyptic Jewish preacher in a nation that had turned away from the commandments of Jewish Law.  As a result he believed that an apocalypse like Noah's flood was about to happen.  He was crucified before this happened, despaired, survived the crucifixion and fled.

Matthew 24 36-39 "As the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."