Spinning off from another thread, have Jesus' teachings been less than universally helpful to mankind? How do we measure if a particular philosophy is helpful or harmful?
I am going to use the "universal morals" listed here.
Jesus' Teachings - Helpful or Harmful?
by jgnat 153 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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DS211
Ok ill start. My personal feeling without diving into cultural psychology of thr masses first lol. Ill read that after.
For me i do find many teachings of Jesus helpful. Thinking of others before onesself, trying to weed out thoughts that may change how i feel about my wife or violence, etc. I think most of what i learned from his teaching is self control, self discipline, and balance in ones life.
with that being said i c annot say that these are patented by Christ, but that i appreciate how he emphasized them.
It was because of what he really taught that got me to look at all things to find out the real truth of the WT.
....ok belief rant over kets get analytical.
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Dis-Member
For me the words and teachings of Jesus are what put a humane, compassionate and loving face to the personality of God who previously to me was only about wrath, anger, rage, punishment, fury, fear, judgment, destruction and death.
The 'sermon on the mount' took me from being a terrified 17 year old to actually thinking that this God could possibly even be a decent character and was the beginning of me developing a liking and appreciation for him that is still quite very much alive.
I say 'liking' for God.
However having never really being able to realise a real living day to day relationship with this elusive God in over 30 years of trying has had it's own consequences I'm sad to say. But that's another story.
Seems a case of I like God but maybe God does not like me.
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jgnat
Personally I find Jesus' apocalyptic teachings to be harmful, and the expectations of persecution that goes along with that. I have seen people defer living because of this teaching.
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Dis-Member
Having said that I have never ever been able to find or connect with Jesus either. What a mess..
When people speak of having a relationship with the above what do they mean exactly? What is it that others seem to be finding that I am not?
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new hope and happiness
it depends how you interpret and apply them....as for me i am not giving " all i possess to the poor" and neither will i hate " my family.." ..so to understand Jesus teachings we needed others to clarify them...( i have to say that was harmful)
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jgnat
How about comparing countries? Are "Christian" nations better off?
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Dis-Member
Sorry I forget this is the wrong forum for my kind of questions.
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adamah
jgnat said-
Personally I find Jesus' apocalyptic teachings to be harmful, and the expectations of persecution that goes along with that. I have seen people defer living because of this teaching.
My challenge to cite ONE example of an original saying that was given to the World by Jesus in the Gospels which hadn't already been expressed by others (whether in the OT or the Golden Rule, spoken by many other philosophers long before Jesus' time) hasn't yet been taken up. Reason is, there are none. Jesus was simply repeating the wisdom of others, and some of which he said was downright irresponsible nonsense (eg leaving one's family, giving away all of one's Worldly possessions since the Lord wouldn't let you starve, etc).
Granted, Jesus' words often reflects the influence of Indian vedic thought, since the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great (600 yrs before) extended from Greece to India, and there was significant cultural interchange occurring amongst the elite ambassadors from various lands in Persia, and some of that wisdom even was adopted into the State religion of the Persian Empire, Zoroasterianism (which influenced Judaiam, too, which adopted some of the elements into their beliefs, and a spin-off religion morphed into Xianity).
Adam
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adamah
Dis-member, you'd likely say the same thing if you grew up in India and discovered "ancient wisdom" in the Baghagativa, or found it in Shintoism in Japan by studying their ancient mythology, etc.
The reason you fail to find Jesus is Bible literalists have convinced you that Jesus and the others are literal historical figures who have some direct influence or power to control your future, rather than an ancient book of long-expired principles which contains SOME gems amongst the nonsense.
If your search for wisdom began and ended with the Bible, then you probably deserve what you end up with. I'd recommend reading some Joseph Campell and studying comparative World mythology, where he finds some common themes.