A non-Christian understanding of the Christian Bible

[Longfellow]

I'm not a Christian, but I grew up in a Christian family, I went through confirmation class in a Christian church, I recognize and accept Jesus as my Lord, and I have an intense interest in what the Christian Bible says about Him and His kingdom.

In my understanding of the Christian Bible, part of what it means by "the kingdom" is a way of life that Jesus brought into the world, people learning together as a community to live the way that He says to live. When I say "Jesus," I mean the one in the gospel stories, imagining that person in the gospel stories as a person who was teaching in and between Galilee near the end of the Second Temple period, and not any kind of "historical Jesus," or "Christ spirit." I'm thinking that many people in Capernaum were learning to live that way under His care and guidance, and that kind of learning spread from there into society in all directions. One way that it spread was in communities with leaders approved by the Apostles, and that evolved into Christianity. The way that people enter that kingdom is by seeing God in Jesus and being moved by that to want to serve and obey Him and learn together to live the way He says to live. In my understanding, what they believe and don't believe, and whether or not they are "Christians" by any definition, has nothing to do with it. They could be followers of any religion, or none.


(later) I'm not sure that I know what it means to be saved. I'm thinking that maybe it means being saved from slavery to the sinful side of our nature.

 

[Vasu Devan]

I am not a Christian, nor do I accept Jesus as my Lord. But much of my analysis of Jesus jives with yours as well. The church made him divine in order to have a focus around which they could claim knowledge(created or not) so as to gain wealth and power for themselves during their birth. Gospel of John is the most popular gospel among many of the faith I've met and even if Jesus claimed to be the son of god, he also referred to fellow Christians as his brothers, sisters and also as children of god.

The main message of Jesus, for me at least, was the practice of unconditional love. Possibly the first Jew to start preaching it in fact. A man who saw the flaws in a religion built on laws and judgement of God than His love and understanding. The Bible may contain the OT but for me it is largely the hate filled system of a punitive God that Jesus felt no affinity for.

Based on my personal experiences of mysticism, I also believe Jesus may have been the earliest vocal practitioner of the philosophy of unconditional love and everything-is-One mentality that is common to so many reports of those experiencing nondual awakenings nowadays.

 

[RabbiO]

@Vasu Devan -

It is always such a pleasure when someone from the outside takes the opportunity to say such complimentary things regarding Jewish scripture, Jews and Judaism, all the while displaying such an incredible depth of knowledge about those subjects.

I hope that down the line I will be afforded the chance to do the same for you.