Who Would Jesus Worship?
This is where I'm gonna piss some people off.
Try to work through some of the logic I put out here. This was a surprise to me, too. I wasn't aiming this direction.
The bible is the result of oral traditions written down beggining at the time of Moses and later. I don't think anyone would argue it is the important information that these people felt needed to be passed down. It is from this 'sanctioned' tradition that the bible was written.
Exodus is supposedly written by Moses, eventhough his own death and burial is described. I think the most telling part of Exodus in Exoudus 20:1. "I am a jealous god. Have no other gods before me." The first sentence goes to motive. Read: "I am telling you this because I am very jeaslous." The second sentence is eye opening. Moses' god is admitting that there exist other gods but he is to be the FIRST if he is going to protect the refugees in the desert. But we need to head back farther in oral tradition.
In Sumer, whence came Abrahm, many gods were worshiped. Two of the more important gods were ENKI (The Great Shepard) and ENLIL (The Great One of the Mountain, also 'El Shadai')who were siblings involved in traditional rivalry. ENKI is a loving and protective god. ENLIL is a vengeful god who rules by fear. The god of Adam and the god of Abrahm had traits of the protective Father who wanted people to treat each other well and live in peace. However, the personality of God changes in Egypt, as read in the bible.
The names "Yahweh" ('I am that I am') and "Jehovah"(also god of the mountain) are used interchangeably throughout the Torah (1st 5 books of the bible). First, note that 'Yahweh' replaces 'Elohim' which is a plural version of "Lofty one." The Elohim were the gods of Canaan. Gods. PLURAL. However if you look close you will notice that though we are not told the name of God, Yahweh and Jehovah are used to deliniate the characteristics of God being expressed.
There are two distinct personalities of the god of abrahm. One is a protective, father figure. The other is a vengeful jealous god. In Eden, God is a father. He punishes for distint transgressions, but he is never nasty.
However, by the time Moses frees the Hebrews from Egypt, "God" is killing the first borns, sending plagues and generally nasty stuff. The god in Egypt continually threatens the Hebrews.
Somehow while in Egypt, the Hebrews shifted from worship of the loving god to that of the vengeful one. Worshiping god became legalistic, with "Thous shalt's" and "Thou shalt not's" and less focused on worship universal design. Even today, devout worshipers are called "God Fearing"
Jesus most likely studied with the religious sect the Essenes. This would have begun before he began his preaching. The Essense were a scholarly group. During this study, he probably discovered this switch of personalities.
When Jesus began preaching, his entire philosophy focused of teh personality of God. A loving God. God the Father. "I give unto you a new law, love one another as you love yourself. On this law hangs all the law and the prohets." He removes the burden of a legalistic worship and replaces it with one of compassion for others.
Furthermore, I propose that Mary Magdelene, the favored disciple "got it". Peter "The Rock" didn't (since when is calling someone a rock complimentary?) However, Peter, being male, was able to present a more convincing, albeit misunderstood concept of Jesus's message.
It is Peter who found the church, which goes on to constantly persecute non-believers in the crusades, etc. If one supports teh TRUTH then why whould you need to crush opposition?
Try to work through some of the logic I put out here. This was a surprise to me, too. I wasn't aiming this direction.
The bible is the result of oral traditions written down beggining at the time of Moses and later. I don't think anyone would argue it is the important information that these people felt needed to be passed down. It is from this 'sanctioned' tradition that the bible was written.
Exodus is supposedly written by Moses, eventhough his own death and burial is described. I think the most telling part of Exodus in Exoudus 20:1. "I am a jealous god. Have no other gods before me." The first sentence goes to motive. Read: "I am telling you this because I am very jeaslous." The second sentence is eye opening. Moses' god is admitting that there exist other gods but he is to be the FIRST if he is going to protect the refugees in the desert. But we need to head back farther in oral tradition.
In Sumer, whence came Abrahm, many gods were worshiped. Two of the more important gods were ENKI (The Great Shepard) and ENLIL (The Great One of the Mountain, also 'El Shadai')who were siblings involved in traditional rivalry. ENKI is a loving and protective god. ENLIL is a vengeful god who rules by fear. The god of Adam and the god of Abrahm had traits of the protective Father who wanted people to treat each other well and live in peace. However, the personality of God changes in Egypt, as read in the bible.
The names "Yahweh" ('I am that I am') and "Jehovah"(also god of the mountain) are used interchangeably throughout the Torah (1st 5 books of the bible). First, note that 'Yahweh' replaces 'Elohim' which is a plural version of "Lofty one." The Elohim were the gods of Canaan. Gods. PLURAL. However if you look close you will notice that though we are not told the name of God, Yahweh and Jehovah are used to deliniate the characteristics of God being expressed.
There are two distinct personalities of the god of abrahm. One is a protective, father figure. The other is a vengeful jealous god. In Eden, God is a father. He punishes for distint transgressions, but he is never nasty.
However, by the time Moses frees the Hebrews from Egypt, "God" is killing the first borns, sending plagues and generally nasty stuff. The god in Egypt continually threatens the Hebrews.
Somehow while in Egypt, the Hebrews shifted from worship of the loving god to that of the vengeful one. Worshiping god became legalistic, with "Thous shalt's" and "Thou shalt not's" and less focused on worship universal design. Even today, devout worshipers are called "God Fearing"
Jesus most likely studied with the religious sect the Essenes. This would have begun before he began his preaching. The Essense were a scholarly group. During this study, he probably discovered this switch of personalities.
When Jesus began preaching, his entire philosophy focused of teh personality of God. A loving God. God the Father. "I give unto you a new law, love one another as you love yourself. On this law hangs all the law and the prohets." He removes the burden of a legalistic worship and replaces it with one of compassion for others.
Furthermore, I propose that Mary Magdelene, the favored disciple "got it". Peter "The Rock" didn't (since when is calling someone a rock complimentary?) However, Peter, being male, was able to present a more convincing, albeit misunderstood concept of Jesus's message.
It is Peter who found the church, which goes on to constantly persecute non-believers in the crusades, etc. If one supports teh TRUTH then why whould you need to crush opposition?
posted by Susan & Greg at
4:41 PM
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