Why didn't jesus write the new testement

by Satanus 54 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Narkissos
    Narkissos

    Satanus,

    http://cavemanart.com/osroene/abgar.htm

    Here, however, Jesus does not appear as writing.

    Eusebius' version (Ecclesiastical History, I, xiii):

    1 The divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ being noised abroad among all men on account of his wonder-working power, he attracted countless numbers from foreign countries lying far away from Judea, who had the opening of being cured of their diseases and of all kinds of sufferings.

    2 For instance the King Abgarus, who ruled with great glory the nations beyond the Euphrates, being afflicted with a terrible disease which it was beyond the power of human skill to cure, when he heard of the name of Jesus, and of his miracles, which were attested by all with one accord sent a message to him by a courier and begged him to heal his disease.

    3 But he did not at that time comply with his request; yet he deemed him worthy of a personal letter in which he said that he would send one of his disciples to cure his disease, and at the same time promised salvation to himself and all his house.

    4 Not long afterward hispromise was fulfilled. For after his resurrection from the dead and his ascent into heaven, Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, under divine impulse sent Thaddeus, who was also numbered among the seventy disciples of Christ, to Edessa, as a preacher and evangelist of the teaching of Christ.

    5 And all that our Saviour had promised received through him its fulfillment. You have written evidence of these things taken from the archives of Edessa, which was at that time a royal city. For in the public registers there, which contain accounts of ancient times and the acts of Abgarus, these things have been found preserved down to the present time. But there is no better way than to hear the epistles themselves which we have taken from the archives and have literally translated from the Syriac language in the following manner.

    Copy of an epistle written by Abgarus the ruler to Jesus, tend sent to him at Jerusalem by Ananias the swift courier.

    6 "Abgarus, ruler Of Edessa, to Jesus the 6 excellent Saviour who has appeared in the country of Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard the reports of thee and of thy cures as performed by thee without medicines or herbs. For it is said that thou makest the blind to see and the lame to walk, that thou cleansest lepers and castest out impure spirits and demons, and that thou healest those afflicted with lingering disease, and raisest the dead.

    7 And having heard all these things concerning thee, I have concluded that one of two things must be true: either thou art God, and having come down from heaven thou doest these things, or else thou, who doest these things, art the Son of God.

    8 I have therefore written to thee to ask thee that thou wouldest take the trouble to come to me and heal the disease which I have. For I have heard that the Jews are murmuring against thee and are plotting to injure thee. But I have a very small yet noble city which is great enough for us both."

    The answer of Jesus to the ruler Abgarus by the courier Ananias.

    9 "Blessed art thou who hast believed in me without having seen me. For it is written concerning me, that they who have seen me will not believe in me, and that they who have not seen me will believe and be saved. But in regard to what thou hast written me, that I should come to thee, it is necessary for me to fulfill all things here for which I have been sent, and after I have fulfilled them thus to be taken up again to him that sent me. But after I have been taken up I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease and give life to thee and thine."

    10 To these epistles there was added the following account in the Syriac language. "After the ascension of Jesus, Judas, who was also called Thomas, sent to him Thaddeus, an apostle, one of the Seventy. When he was come he lodged with Tobias, the son of Tobias. When the report of him got abroad, it was told Abgarus that an apostle of Jesus was come, as he had written him.

    11 Thaddeus began then in the power of God to heal every disease and infirmity, insomuch that all wondered. And when Abgarus heard of the great and wonderful things which he did and of the cures which he performed, he began to suspect that he was the one of whom Jesus had written him, saying, `After I have been taken up I will send to thee one of my disciples who will heal thee.'

    12 Therefore, summoning Tobias, with whom Thaddeus lodged, he said, I have heard that a certain man of power has come and is lodging in thy house. Bring him to me. And Tobias coming to Thaddeus said to him, The ruler Abgarus summoned me and told me to bring thee to him that thou mightest heal him. And Thaddeus said, I will go, for I have been sent to him with power.

    13 Tobias therefore arose early on the following day, and taking Thaddeus came to Abgarus. And when he came, the nobles were present and stood about Abgarus. And immediately upon his entrance a great vision appeared to Abgarus in the countenance of the apostle Thaddeus. When Abgarus saw it he prostrated himself before Thaddeus, while all those who stood about were astonished; for they did not see the vision, which appeared to Abgarus alone.

    14 He then asked Thaddeus if he were in truth a disciple of Jesus the Son of God, who had said to him, `I will send thee one of my disciples, who shall heal thee and give thee life.' And Thaddeus said, Because thou hast mightily believed in him that sent me, therefore have I been sent unto thee. And still further, if thou believest in him, the petitions of thy heart shall be granted thee as thou believest.

    15 And Abgarus said to him, So much have I believed in him that I wished to take an army and destroy those Jews who crucified him, had I not been deterred from it by reason of the dominion of the Romans. And Thaddeus said, Our Lord has fulfilled the will of his Father, and having fulfilled it has been taken up to his Father. And Abgarus said to him, I too have believed in him and in his Father.

    16 And Thaddeus said to him, Therefore I place my hand upon thee in his name. And when he had done it, immediately Abgarus was cured of the disease and of the suffering which he had.

    17 And Abgarus marvelled, that as he had heard concerning Jesus, so he had received in very deed through his disciple Thaddeus, who healed him without medicines and herbs, and not only him, but also Abdus the son of Abdus, who was afflicted with the gout; for he too came to him and fell at his feet, and having received a benediction by the imposition of his hands, he was healed. The same Thaddeus cured also many other inhabitants of the city, and did wonders and marvelous works, and preached

    18 the word of God. And afterward Abgarus said, Thou, O Thaddeus, doest these things with the power of God, and we marvel. But, in addition to these things, I pray thee to inform me in regard to the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and in regard to his power, by what power he performed those deeds of which I have heard.

    19 And Thaddeus said, Now indeed will I keep silence, since I have been sent to proclaim the word publicly. But tomorrow assemble for me all thy citizens, and I will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God, concerning the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his mission, for what purpose he was sent by the Father; and concerning the power of his works, and the mysteries which he proclaimed in the world, and by what power he did these things; and concerning his new preaching, and his abasement and humiliation, and how he humbled himself, and died and debased his divinity and was crucified, and descended into Hades, and burst the bars which from eternity had not been broken, and raised the dead; for he descended alone, but rose with many, and thus ascended to his Father.

    20 Abgarus therefore commanded the citizens to assemble early in the morning to hear the preaching of Thaddeus, and afterward he ordered gold and silver to be given him. But he refused to take it, saying, If we have forsaken that which was our own, how shall we take that which is another's? These things were done in the three hundred andfortieth year."

    I have inserted them here in their proper place, translated from the Syriac literally, and I hope to good purpose.

  • googlemagoogle
    googlemagoogle

    In that case, his oral method was defeated when paul started writing down rules, laws etc.

    so paul didn't like jesus' oral method? yeah, he was not that into sex, right?

  • MidwichCuckoo
    MidwichCuckoo

    .......after reading this thread it has occured to me why DIDN'T Jesus / God record events in a way that would only be accessible at appropriate times, eg. ''The Last Days''. Let me clarify. As a dub, I was always told that things were revealed at the due time, Revelation being the example - as past generations didn't need to understand it as the events contained there would not occur during their lifetimes.

    As there is ''Nothing New Under The Sun'', it would make better sense for US/Mankind to access information only when we have the MEANS to do so - that way we would not need to speculate, or be misled by false prophets..(eg. a CD-ROM during the 18th Century would be meaningless to EVERYONE in the Whole World).

  • Satanus
    Satanus

    Midwichcoockoo

    Ya, you'ld think that god would have done that. Imagine, a cd made out of indistructable material, excavated that has god's message for the times in which it was discovered. Hey, didn't the mormons do that? Too bad they don't make them public, for the world's scholars to study.

    Narkissos

    Thanks for that. I guess even christians don't take constantine's propagandiser that seriously.

    Evilforce

    I was thinking more of jesus being able to be in the flow when writing. Quite a few writers get in the flow at times. A science fiction writer, greg bear, claimed that he would go into a trance when writing. His books are amazing.

    S

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia

    Did Eusebius buy into those pious frauds?

    I thought he was a pretty good scholar of his time but maybe he was gullible when faced with something like this. Didn't he also make reference to "Pilate's archives" which would have been another use of such spurious works? Or did he express skepticism of these sources?

  • tetrapod.sapien
    tetrapod.sapien
    Questions, questions, and more questions.

    Did jesus (if he existed) have in mind starting a world religion such as has been created around him in his name?

    assuming he existed? yes and no. yes he wanted to create a world wide religion from his cult. and no, he would have been horrified to know what had been created around his name now.

    If so, why did he not write the foundations for it, laying out it's laws and structure?

    because he didn't exist. or if he did, as that atheist kid on the ABC wife swap show put it to his stepmom: "Jesus was just some carpenter that liked to talk a lot." it's a perfectly logical question. why would he entrust something so important to a bunch of bickering fishermen who never really understood what he was talking about half the time.

    Why did he only rebel and lead a rebellion against the old testement priesthood?

    because he most probably did not exist and the writers developing his mythology could not have had any foresight or political power, and that was the most immediate issue to deal with, the religious establishment for which he came from.

    Why did decades pass before anything was committed to papyrus/velum?
    because he most probably did not exist and because the myth creators were still mostly formulating the story.

    Why did he make vague statements to the effect that someone else would start his church?

    because he probably never made them. the writer was jockying for political position while trying to sound innocent.

    Why did that person not start the church?

    because it did not work out for him. and paul was unaware of what had been writen about peter because when paul wrote the epistles the gospels had not yet been written, or he was unaware of them.

    Why was a greek educated jew who never knew jesus instrumental in designing church structure and building them?

    he was a charismatic leader, and a great business man.

    S
    nice questions. all answers IMHO of course.
  • Satanus
    Satanus
    nice questions.

    I'se struttin now.

    S

  • Narkissos
    Narkissos
    I guess even christians don't take constantine's propagandiser that seriously.

    Modern Western Christians certainly don't. Which makes the selective use of their critical skills all the more astonishing.

    Did Eusebius buy into those pious frauds?

    It seems obvious he at least pretended to. As the first example of a Christianised State, Edessa would have been especially important to him.

  • mnb77
    mnb77

    Two thoughts to this:

    1) the reason why JC didn't write the stuff was because he didn't want to be an example for all the JW Leaders.

    2) The Bible: God inspired, man written

    and with the Trinity idea, Jesus is God so he put it all together

    mnb77

  • Rabbit
    Rabbit
    If so, why did he not write the foundations for it, laying out it's laws and structure?

    Very good questions, Satanus.

    In the interest of human kind, you'd think he would have been VERY clear and concise. Look at all the wars and controversy that could have been avoided -- if Jesus just said, "Look folks, this is the way it is..."

    (if, or course he even existed )

    rabbit

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