I happened upon a post on En Masse about what Jesus really taught. It was quoting an article from the Tyee
Here are some of the erroneous statements:
The real Jesus was born illegitimately.
In order to be ilegitamite, you have to be the product of fornication, and you have to have no Father, which is not Jesus' case at all. He did not live in a single-parent home. His parents were married.
He called himself "the human one."
Jesus claimed divinity for himself on a number of occasions, notably by saying "Before Abraham was, I AM". He also claimed the power to forgive sins.
Just like Buddha, his authority came from truth, not power.
His authority came from the Father. "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me". (Matthew 28:18).
He said those who work for the common good are his church
He never said any such thing.
The real Jesus was an anarchist.
That is positively ridiculous. He payed the Temple Tax. He preached that the Pharisees should be listened to. He established the apostles and their authority to lead the Church. He said that the power for Pilate to rule was given by God. He claimed power for himself. In so many ways, Jesus upheld and respected power structures.
He said that God is understood in terms of love, not power.
As if power and love were two different things. What about the gnashing of teeth of the pharisees in hell?
If he did not want to rule over others in life,
He founded a Church. He said to his apostles "he who hears you, hears me". He gave his apostles many instructions-- if a sinner is unrepentant, treat him like a tax collector. On many occasions, he commanded people not to speak about miracles that happened.
Today's church lifts its arms to praise Christ wearing liturgical garments woven in sweatshops.
I am fairly certain this is not true. Liturgical vestments is an extremely specialized job. They're often made right here in North America by people who're very devoted to the craft. I once saw a report on this on Seconds Regards on Radio Canada. It wasn't anything like a sweatshop. Anyhow, I have reason to doubt that's true.
Today's church doles out bits of charity from booty stolen from God's powerless people the world over.
Inflated rhetoric. The money the Church receives is from people who give willingly from their pockets.
Anyone who claims to believe in a just God, or even in justice itself, has to know at some level that the prayers for liberation coming from third world countries will be heard and answered.
I'm sure. But the answer isn't marxism. Marxism has been among the biggest persecutors of Christianity.
The moderate mainstream church is helpless against fundamentalism because it is built on a nuanced version of the same cracked foundation of a theology of power.
Or maybe there's something to traditional Christianity that crumbles when a socialist paradigm is applied to it.
Neither Calvin nor Luther spoke English, but they helped the Popes lay the groundwork for the view of God as a cosmic dictator.
The papacy existed 14 centuries before Luther. Are you telling me they had nothing to do with it?
From Popes Luther and Calvin we have some of the ugliest slurs ever recorded against women, intellectuals and those who refused the church's message.
And these so-called "slurs" i.e. conservative Christian ideals, have nothing to do with what's in the Bible. No siree!
How did Christians hold slaves, oppress women and slaughter nonbelievers?
The same way Marxists held slaves ("re-education camps") , oppress women (like forced abortion in China) and slaughter non-believers.
Perhaps they could not see Christ in non-male, non-European, and non-Christian people because they were limited by their theology.
Yeah, we're not all perfect like you. Nevermind that the Catholic Church upheld the equality of women, the validity of non-European Cultures, and the dignity of non-Christian people. Uh-huh.
Their "Christ" was merely a glorification of the most powerful member of their own culture.
And all those saints who loved Catholicism and became monks, nuns and hermits, they were ALL on a power trip!
People within the power hierarchy proclaim that God is the ultimate authority, and then appoint themselves as God's interpreters and enforcers.
Jesus established that authority. Who selected the priests. Generation after generation. At least as far as those churches with apostolic succession is concerned.
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