IF we’re all God’s children, what’s so special about Jesus?

We are all God's children, but Jesus also God at the same time. So they say...

Sounds like a family dispute to me.

We are all God's children, but Jesus also God at the same time. So they say...

I do not believe that Jesus is/was God, he is the son of God.

If the question of what makes him so special is for real: He is special as he had no human father, God is his father, he was promised since the beginning of creation, came in the way foretold, lived his life in perfect obdience to God, then laid down his life as a blood sacrafice, died and was raised from the dead in 3 days, ascended to heaven where he is at the right hand of God and will return to the earth to establish God'd kinngdom and will rule from his throne in Jerusalem for ever.

That's what makes him so special.

He's dragging his heels a bit though isn't he.

Sorry team, just read " histiricaly illiterate "...........I'll get my coat.

" histiricaly illiterate ".....

OMG, that cracked me up.

Describes bible bashers to the "T"

<<<<<wiping my eyes.....LOL>>>>>

Ok, here I go...

I do not believe there is a supreme being looking over everything we do, creating miracles etc..

There were in my opinion people living in the past that simply tried to make mankind better, by teaching that through kindness and moderation we can improve our lives and lives of those around us. This IMHO is the basis of all religion, series of teachings and advice how we can all be better people, is this not the foundation of most religions ?

The people I talk about, be it Jesus, Mohammed or whatever were imortalised because of their teachings and vision of the world being a nice place to live, and their effort to try to achieve this.

The problem is that ancient texts can be interpreted differently depending who read them and teach them through the ages, which causes confusion, and in many cases used as a tool to control the population, and even incite violence.

Disease and war is natures way of controlling population levels

War sprouts from survival of the fittest, mans constant effort to be better, have more..be number one....win, you can see it in nature everyday

Disease - This will always be natures method of controlling population. create a cure for one horrible disease and another more scary one will follow, look at the evidence, flu, smallpox, cholera, the plague, cancer, aids, ebola (not necessarily in order). Although it is understood that nature also provides a natural cure somewhere, which the world is probably overlooking, killing, removing..

Believe in god, mohammed, buddha, believe in what you want.. but also believe in the simply message that was intended.

Totster

Judaism is the only faith in world history that was sustained as a faith without resorting to the sword to sustain it, for over 2,500 years, with only a few exceptions. Jesus was in the Greek language an irenepoi, in Latin a pax-factor, in English a peace-maker. He ordered his followers to be peacemakers, turn the other cheek, walk the second mile, and to LOVE YOUR ENEMIES. Not just to love God and family and your favorite neighbor, and yourself of course. But to love Nazis and Communists, Muslims and Burmese. Christianity was almost completely nonviolent or peaceful for 3 centuries, because Jesus was a Jewish pacifist who lived when peacemaking (shalom) was a Jewish way of life.

When Constantine made a half-baked conversion to Christianity, the church was so glad to stop being persecuted that it grabbed the imperial sword and started killing heretics, thus becoming the false church you have always heard of. It ain't Christ's church, and it is not Christian faith practiced as its founder commanded.

Very interesting. Please keep sharing things that many of us might not know.

An interesting read on Jewish pacifism here.

Link

According to Josephus, the revolt, which began at Caesarea in 66, was provoked by Greeks sacrificing birds in front of a local synagogue.The Greek-speaking Roman garrison did not intercede. In an act of defiance, the son of Kohen Gadol (High priest) Eliezar ben Hanania ceased prayers and sacrifices for the Roman Emperor at the Temple and subsequently led a successful attack on the Roman garrison stationed in Jerusalem.

But sceadu (or is it Scoobey-Doo?), that is not Jewish pacifism. My statement includes "for over 2,500 years, with only a few exceptions." Another exception, virtually unknown to most Protestants because it is only in the Catholic canon, is the Maccabean revolt. You, and some of the modern-Israel-sympathetic editors of wikipedia, may have selective memories, just as most Christian seminary graduates have. John Howard Yoder said that the history of Jewish pacifism was something he found most difficult to forgive his seminary teachers for neglecting. The militant success of violent, terrorist Zionism has not only blinded the world to historical Jewish pacifism, but has smeared Judaism as a bloody Holocaust-revenging major religion. That smeared version makes perfect sense to Gentiles of Christian backgrounds in which the Conquest of Canaan was taught instead of the commands of Jesus. And the Conquest of the New World was taught as divinely blessed destiny.

Jesus founded a pacifist version of nonviolent Judaism which lasted 300 years.

I searched for Jewish pacifism and found there is no general article for it. But lower on the results page there are numerous citations.

I need to seriously address my posting style if I have people thinking I'm sympathetic to modern Israel.

The point I was, obviously unsuccessfully, trying to make is the Jewish pacifism, if it existed, only existed through necessity. When they had the upper hand they used it, and after the diaspora it was inadvisable to start picking fights when you're scattered all over the planet in small groups.

Many Jews fought in WW2, not only in the allied armed forces but also in resistance groups in occupied countries. I once worked with a Pole who fought in the Polish resistance with a number of Jews and had the greatest admiration for their fighting ability.

My board name's easy if you copy and paste it, just right click on it with your mouse.

Well, I must confess that I have not read all the posts and some of the following points may have been raised already, critised already, disproved already, but here is my take on the subject.

1) I have some sort of belief in 'something out there' because I do not have the mental capacity of Stephen Hawking to understand the multiple universes, floating on membranes, collapsing and being reborn in 'Big Bang' events occuring in different dimensions (up to ten I think) that current physicists talk about. To me there must have been something to trigger the birth of the universe.

2) As with most religions, the object is to form a framework that will allow a society to co-exist without too much trouble and allow a select group to control that society.

3) The Judaic laws as set out in the Torah (Pentateuch) have been one of the most successful and have formed the basis of three religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The off-shoots grafted on (or deducted from) this base have been the cause of disputes and wars since the fourth century AD (Nicaean Congress) - which codified the Christian doctrine in a way that rejected many of the beliefs held dear by many 'christians' up to that time. However it held on to some beliefs that were imported from Roman religion - such as the belief that Mithras was born in a cave of a virgin mother. And hald the feast of another Roman god (Saturn) as being the birth date of the Redeemer. These traditions had been grafted on to the basic religion as being too deeply entrenched in Roman beliefs to be denied by the new religion and were, after a couple of hundred years,

4. The dietary laws are now basically not neede, with refrigeration and other means of preserving food developed since the early days - but still pork is not eaten by Muslims or Jews, as it goes bad very quickly in hot climates. Other meat is killed by draining the blood very quickly (Halal or kosher process) doe the same reason. Shellfish are 'treff' in Judaism for the same reason (nothing in the Koran - I assume because in both Mecca and M'dina there was no experience - it's a very hard walk from the Red Sea to either place). The 'seething of a calf in it's mother's milk' (the basis of the meat / dairy separate kitchens in many Jewish homes) was a luxury dish offered to the priests of Baal and thus the priests of Jehovah forbade it to show the difference.

None of this really matters now, except that I do not eat shellfish, or offal, for medical reasons. So there may still be some relevance.

5. The Prophet Mohammad, when young, was involved in trading through camel caravans all over the Middle East and thus probably picked up the rudiments of Judaic law them. He preached a simple version until ne was chased out of Mecca, when he fled to M'dina - which had a large Jewish community and was probably the ruling rlite of the town. He there refined his ideas.

6. In the 15th and 16th centuries many people were dissatisfied with the church as it stood and took many ways to show this - Galileo espoused science, Martin Luther decried the ruling priesthood, Columbus took off for lands unknown. This resulted in some of the bloodiest conflicts ever seen and - even worse - the rise of secular politics. The Catholic church attempted to assert it's power through the Inquisition, decinated the population of the Americas and incited wars throughout Europe.

7. Similarly, in the 8th century, the followers of the Prophet had invaded Persia and the surrounding area, destroying much of the land (almost all trees were chopped down to prevent local reisitance groups from dropping onto them when the rode their horses). However the marvels they found in Persia, from the domed buildings through the science and medecine to creative writing, poetry and calligraphy, were absorbed into their culture. Then the Bani Hillel - a massive tribal confederation - went along the North coast of Africa - through Egypt and on to Morrocco and up into Spain. (Gibralter - Jebel Tariq - Hill of Tariq - was their crossing point). The Bani Hillel brought their sheep and goats with them - making instant desert of the once-lush coastal plains of Libya that had fed the Roman Empire. They also brought slaves from Persia who eventually created the Andalusian civilisation based on Cordoba, Sevilla and Granada.

But while Judaism had remained a religion of a small segment of the Levant, the other two religions pushed on throughout the world. Why the difference?

I believe it was the proselytising fervour of converts that established the different attitudes. If you were born a Jew, you remained a Jew, but did not seek to convert others. If you came to believe in Christianity or Islam, you went out into the world and said 'Listen to me! This is the one true religion! You must believe or forever rot in hel_l'. And this tradition exists to this day. And I do not like it.

So I stick to my own belief in some unknown, unknowable something that started the whole schmear off, but then sat back and watched the video.

The militant success of violent, terrorist Zionism has not only blinded the world to historical Jewish pacifism, but has smeared Judaism as a bloody Holocaust-revenging major religion.

"Terrorist" Zionism?

The Jews blew up the Hotel David which was actually British Military Headquarters - the British were really giving them the shaft - after phoning in a warning to get out. The British officer who responded told them that, "We don't take orders from Jews" and the rest is history.

Such attacks on military targets are a little different from blowing up airplanes and buildings full of innocent people that one usually associates with "terrorists". Using the same word is fashionable right now, but hardly waranted..

The Jews decided to fight back after pacifism failed dismally with getting any sympathy from the Nazis in World War 2.

NEVER AGAIN as they say and who can blame them.

And the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte?

And the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte?

Carried out by a 'Lehi' team with the approval of future Prime Minister Yitzak Shamir - ad the King David Hotel blast was carried out by Irgun Zvai Leumi under the direction of future Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

So I stick to my own belief in some unknown, unknowable something that started the whole schmear off, but then sat back and watched the video.

I like that, and agree.

Enjoyed the whole post, very informative.

So I stick to my own belief in some unknown, unknowable something that started the whole schmear off, but then sat back and watched the video.

I like that, and agree.

Enjoyed the whole post, very informative.

Thanks - but please understand that I have no references to hand. This is all stuff I have picked up along the way, have checked at some time or other, but am always willing to accept critical correction. (And NO - that does not mean spank paddles!)

And the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte?

Carried out by a 'Lehi' team with the approval of future Prime Minister Yitzak Shamir

A regrettable incident carried out by The Stern Gang who were nutcases that allied themselves with the Nazis and killed Bernadotte because of his plan to not let the Jews have Jeruselem. Yitzak Shamir was a minor member and had nothing to do with politics at the time.

Most Israeli's did not support the activities of The Stern Gang and the Israeli government got rid of them because of this assasination.

Bombing military military installations sounds like terrorism. I worked extensively with folks who worked as peace makers in the West Bank, 1994-2001. The young lady from my local church, unarmed, prevented an Israeli soldier from firing into an unarmed group of nonviolent Palestinians who were worshiping at the tomb of Abraham and Sarah. They said the most violent Zionists were the settlers from...Broooklyn! Violent Zionism has turned "Israel" and Judaism into a bloody expression of non-peace, non-shalom.

Anyway, I think the only religions worth believing are the ones that do not kill people.

War is a bad thing and people do bad things in war in every country and the Palestinians have done plenty of terrible things all over the world. Israel has no copyright on violence.

I would agree with you that the only religions worth believing are the ones that do not kill people, but as far as I know, there aren't any.

War is a bad thing and people do bad things in war in every country and the Palestinians have done plenty of terrible things all over the world. Israel has no copyright on violence.

I would agree with you that the only religions worth believing are the ones that do not kill people, but as far as I know, there aren't any.

Well UG, all of the people in my Christian fellowship refuse to go to war or engage in any violent activity. It has caused us problems in wars where there was conscription. It meant we had to go to a tribunal and claim 'conscientious objection' and some of us even ended up in prision. We live as the bible teaches us on the subject.

And that is your right to do so if you're prepared to accept the legal consequences of your actions.

Personally I have more admiration for those who choose to serve their country in a non-combat role. I admit this also contributes to the deaths of others indirectly, a soldier saved by a skilled military para-medic may recover to go on and kill people but virtually any action in civilian life could be accused of the same. Would you not make cars because of the road toll?

War is a bad thing and people do bad things in war in every country and the Palestinians have done plenty of terrible things all over the world. Israel has no copyright on violence.

I would agree with you that the only religions worth believing are the ones that do not kill people, but as far as I know, there aren't any.

Well UG, all of the people in my Christian fellowship refuse to go to war or engage in any violent activity. It has caused us problems in wars where there was conscription. It meant we had to go to a tribunal and claim 'conscientious objection' and some of us even ended up in prision. We live as the bible teaches us on the subject.

I admire you for that. One of the things that I really like about Mohammed Ali is that he was willing to go to jail for his beliefs.

However, sceadugenga has the best solution in my books. Becoming a medic is one of the most noble choices that one could make!

I know that many people who refused to go to war were sent to do jobs that were lacking numbers because of the war. Some went on the land, some to coal mines some others nursing. However, scead made the point about not making cars because of the road toll, I suppose if your conscience said you should'nt, you shouldn't! For me though, it would be easier than that, I would avoid anything which I felt would conflict with my understanding of scripture, so I wouldn't work for a company that made guns. I do however accept that you may work in a steel factory where eventually the steel might make it to factory that makes something that might assist the military/armed forces. I guess that's why it's called 'conscientious objection'.

Remember "Dad's Army?

Captain Mainwaring gave poor old Private Godfrey a hard time when he confessed to being a "conchy" but quickly changed his attitude when he found out Godfrey had a Military Medal from the Battle of the Somme as a medical orderly.

We didn't get too many Australian shows on TV when I was a kid.

You trying to be funny UG?

Always... I'm going to Chiang Mai today so I'll call in and see the old reprobate.

Who are you calling old?