> > Tim Rhodes wrote:
> > >
>
> >Sodom wrote:
> > Geez Tim, you are on a warpath today. I do agree however with my
> > origianl comment a week and a half ago. Faith is based on fear of
> > the unknown. Whether it is deliberate or not. I would probably make
> > a good Christian because I do think many of the things Christ is
> > supposed to have said are good. Love, compassion, affection,
> > forgivness - all of these are values I hold dear. But I like them
> > because I see the benefits they bring and the emotional response my
> > mind rewards me with, not because someone told me to. If it weren't
> > for the divine part, if Jesus were just a philosopher like Socrates,
>
> > then I would probably convert.
> >
> > Sodom
> Sodom, I think your reasoning is correct, if Jesus is not what is
> claimed of him, then you would be foolish to convert. We can get
> good "ethics" from all sorts of places and even people who have never
> heard of the Christian message do, by nature what their conscience
> tells them and very often have a conviction of what is right or
> wrong. If Christ is not God in the flesh, I would not want to follow
> him. What is reported of him is that he went around forgiving people
> of their sins, healing the sick, raising the dead. Now, if he did
> not do those things, then was a lunatic, a liar, or a misunderstood
> Jew--but can we just pick 'n choose what we want? I suppose that is
> one way but if we doubt part of the message, then I suppose we ought
> to doubt the authenticity of it all.
I do definately doubt whether a person known as Jesus did any of the
things attributed to him. I suspect that it is so wrapped up in the
false and true that it is impossible to tell one from the other.
In other words - We agree.
Sodom