Jesus Mortal |
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failure A remarkable feature of fire-and-brimstone Christianity is how feckless it makes Christ out to be. This version of Christianity portrays Christ and Satan as locked in a 6,000-year struggle for the souls of humanity, and Satan comes out way ahead. Fire-and-brimstone Christianity holds up two contradictory tenets: First, that God became Man in a world-shaking act of self-sacrifice in order to free humanity from bondage to Satan and his lies; and, Second, that even 2,000 years later the great majority of people across the world are in bondage to Satan's lies and go to Hell when they die. For now, let's forget the countless people who went down to damnation in the 4,000 years before Christ died on the cross. Those people were already lost by the time Christ was crucified. We might ask why Jesus didn't show up earlier and save more people, but let's put that aside for now. Let's just think about the billions that have lived and died since Christ made Heaven attainable through His own blood. Almost all of these people failed to put their faith in Christ. Is it because they rejected Christ's offer of eternal life? No, mostly it's because they had never heard of Him. And it's not just those who are ignorant of Christ who have been damned en masse. Fire-and-brimstone Christians typically portray the Catholic Church as a front organization run by Satan. Catholics amount to half the Christians on the planet, so the number of people actually saved is even smaller than the number of people who call themselves Christians. Considering the billions of people who have inhabited the earth over the last 2,000 years, Christ mostly failed to win souls to eternal life. Instead, Satan mostly succeeded in thwarting Christ's redemptive efforts. So here’s an unlettered Galilean prophet whose remarkable ministry has changed the world for the better. That sounds like success. But his followers defined him as a god who wanted all the world to worship him, thus turning him into mostly a failure.
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contents table of contents you're already looking at it introduction for the inquisitive reader biographical overview who he was and wasn't
afterlife not Jesus' concern animal sacrifice bloodless religion apocalypse did Jesus preach hellfire? baptism sin wash for Jesus and others beatitudes Jesus' words and others' words beloved disciple witness for the un-gospel bible scripture old and new bishop the unjesus body focus on the physical Buddha Jesus' close kin charity key Christian virtue and legacy of Jesus The Da Vinci Code secret (and false) messages divorce women's status dreams convenient literary device Elijah Jewish prophet with his own second coming equality ancient source of modern egalitarianism exorcist Jesus and demons failure reinterpreting Jesus as a failure faith from trust to blind belief father Jesus on titles of honor Francis of Assisi the most Christlike Christian Gandhi the 20th century's most Christly holy man Galilee Jesus' inauspicious homeland gentiles Jesus' inadvertent audience god how Jesus became god golden rule key to Jesus' success gospels competing accounts heaven from sky to spiritual home hell revenge fantasy humanism Jesus' legacy inerrant Christian treatment of scripture Thomas Jefferson ethics of Jesus Jewish guilt Christian libel John's gospel the un-gospel John the baptist, see John the washer John the washer Jesus' apocalyptic mentor Judaism libeled religion of Jesus kingdom of god what Jesus promised Lao Tzu poet of the cosmic way logos jesus as the word of god C. S. Lewis famous, flawed trilemma little drummer boy Luke beats Matthew logos Jesus as the divine word LORD Yahweh transitioning to the one god of all Luke's gospel the all-around best gospel Mark's gospel the gospel that lost its point Mary of Magdala women, visions, and sex massacre of the innocents bloodshed starts early Matthew's gospel best gospel for church reading Mormon, see Joseph Smith Moses Jewish lawgiver Muhammad a prophet who got it right mystery Orpheus and transubstantiation oppression origin of Jesus' compassion The Passion of the Christ Luke as buzzkill Paul revealer of the revealer private and public public Jesus and secret Christ relativism the secret power of the golden rule sacrifice Jesus' death and Christian sacrament Albert Schweitzer Jesus as a failure sheol dark pit of death show Jesus' deeds as put-ons slavery abolished by Jesus' efforts Joseph Smith flesh-and-blood Jesus Socrates secular Jesus son of god on close terms with the man upstairs soul, see body synoptics three gospels that agree temple center of Jewish religion trinity unifying and divisive doctrinre vision, see dreams Yahweh, see LORD Zoroaster Persian dualistic holy man
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