Welcome my friends to another installment of the Life and Teachings of Jesus. Pull up a chair and enjoy this story, possibly the greatest one ever told. Enjoy the story!
Love: Zuma

JEWS AND GENTILES

By the times of Jesus the Jews had arrived at a settled concept of their origin, history, and destiny. They had built up a rigid wall of separation between themselves and the gentile world; they looked upon all gentile ways with utter contempt. They worshipped the letter of the law and indulged a form of self-righteousness based upon the false pride of descent. They had formed preconceived notions regarding the promised Messiah, and most of these expectations envisaged a Messiah who would come as a part of their national and racial history. To the Hebrews of those days Jewish theology was irrevocably settled, forever fixed.

The teachings and practices of Jesus regarding tolerance and kindness ran counter to the long-standing attitude of the Jews toward other peoples whom they considered heathen. For generations the Jews had nourished an attitude toward the outside world which made it impossible for them to accept the Master's teachings about the spiritual brotherhood of man. They were unwilling to share Yahweh on equal terms with the gentiles and were likewise unwilling to accept as the Son of God one who taught such new and strange doctrines.

The scribes, the Pharisees, and the priesthood held the Jews in a terrible bondage of ritualism and legalism, a bondage far more real than that of the Roman political rule. The Jews of Jesus' time were not only held in subjugation to the law but were equally bound by the slavish demands of the traditions, which involved and invaded every domain of personal and social life. These minute regulations of conduct pursued and dominated every loyal Jew, and it is not strange that they promptly rejected one of their number who presumed to ignore their sacred traditions, and who dared to flout their long-honored regulations of social conduct. They could hardly regard with favor the teachings of one who did not hesitate to clash with dogmas which they regarded as having been ordained by Father Abraham himself. Moses had given them their law and they would not compromise.

By the time of the first century after Christ the spoken interpretation of the law by the recognized teachers, the scribes, had become a higher authority than the written law itself. And all this made it easier for certain religious leaders of the Jews to array the people against the acceptance of a new gospel.

These circumstances rendered it impossible for the Jews to fulfill their divine destiny as messengers of the new gospel of religious freedom and spiritual liberty. They could not break the fetters of tradition. Jeremiah had told of the "law to be written in men's hearts," Ezekiel had spoken of a "new spirit to live in man's soul," and the Psalmist had prayed that God would "create a clean heart within and renew a right spirit." But when the Jewish religion of good works and slavery to law fell victim to the stagnation of traditionalistic inertia, the motion of religious evolution passed westward to the European peoples.

And so a different people were called upon to carry an advancing theology to the world, a system of teaching embodying the philosophy of the Greeks, the law of the Romans, the morality of the Hebrews, and the gospel of personality sanctity and spiritual liberty formulated by Paul and based on the teachings of Jesus.

Paul's cult of Christianity exhibited its morality as a Jewish birthmark. The Jews viewed history as the providence of God--Yahweh at work. The Greeks brought to the new teaching clearer concepts of the eternal life. Paul's doctrines were influenced in theology and philosophy not only by Jesus' teachings but also by Plato and Philo. In ethics he was inspired not only by Christ but also by the Stoics.

The gospel of Jesus, as it was embodied in Paul's cult of Antioch Christianity, became blended with the following teachings:

1. The philosophic reasoning of the Greek proselytes to Judaism, including some of their concepts of the eternal life.

2. The appealing teachings of the prevailing mystery cults, especially the Mithraic doctrines of redemption, atonement, and salvation by the sacrifice made by some god.

3. The sturdy morality of the established Jewish religion.The Mediterranean Roman Empire, the Parthian kingdom, and the adjacent peoples of Jesus' time all held crude and primitive ideas regarding the geography of the world, astronomy, health, and disease; and naturally they were amazed by the new and startling pronouncements of the carpenter of Nazareth. The ideas of spirit possession, good and bad, applied not merely to human beings, but every rock and tree was viewed by many as being spirit possessed. This was an enchanted age, and everybody believed in miracles as commonplace occurrences.

PREVIOUS WRITTEN RECORDS

As far as possible, consistent with our mandate, we have endeavored to utilize and to some extent co-ordinate the existing records having to do with the life of Jesus on This world. Although we have enjoyed access to the lost record of the Apostle Andrew and have benefited from the collaboration of a vast host of celestial beings who were on earth during the times of Michael's bestowal it has been our purpose also to make use of the so-called Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

These New Testament records had their origin in the following circumstances:

1. The Gospel by Mark. John Mark wrote the earliest (excepting the notes of Andrew), briefest, and most simple record of Jesus' life. He presented the Master as a minister, as man among men. Although Mark was a lad lingering about many of the scenes which he depicts, his record is in reality the Gospel according to Simon Peter. He was early associated with Peter; later with Paul. Mark wrote this record at the instigation of Peter and on the earnest petition of the church at Rome. Knowing how consistently the Master refused to write out his teachings when on earth and in the flesh, Mark, like the apostles and other leading disciples, was hesitant to put them in writing. But Peter felt the church at Rome required the assistance of such a written narrative, and Mark consented to undertake its preparation. He made many notes before Peter died in A.D. 67, and in accordance with the outline approved by Peter and for the church at Rome, he began his writing soon after Peter's death. The Gospel was completed near the end of A.D. 68. Mark wrote entirely from his own memory and Peter's memory. The record has since been considerably changed, numerous passages having been taken out and some later matter added at the end to replace the latter one fifth of the original Gospel, which was lost from the first manuscript before it was ever copied. This record by Mark, in conjunction with Andrew's and Matthew's notes, was the written basis of all subsequent Gospel narratives which sought to portray the life and teachings of Jesus.

2. The Gospel of Matthew. The so-called Gospel according to Matthew is the record of the Master's life which was written for the edification of Jewish Christians. The author of this record constantly seeks to show in Jesus' life that much which he did was that "it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet." Matthew's Gospel portrays Jesus as a son of David, picturing him as showing great respect for the law and the prophets.
The Apostle Matthew did not write this Gospel. It was written by Isador, one of his disciples, who had as a help in his work not only Matthew's personal remembrance of these events but also a certain record which the latter had made of the sayings of Jesus directly after the crucifixion. This record by Matthew was written in Aramaic; Isador wrote in Greek. There was no intent to deceive in accrediting the production to Matthew. It was the custom in those days for pupils thus to honor their teachers.
Matthew's original record was edited and added to in A.D. 40 just before he left Jerusalem to engage in evangelistic preaching. It was a private record, the last copy having been destroyed in the burning of a Syrian monastery in A.D. 416.
Isador escaped from Jerusalem in A.D. 70 after the investment of the city by the armies of Titus, taking with him to Pella a copy of Matthew's notes. In the year 71, while living at Pella, Isador wrote the Gospel according to Matthew. He also had with him the first four fifths of Mark's narrative.

3. The Gospel by Luke. Luke, the physician of Antioch in Pisidia, was a gentile convert of Paul, and he wrote quite a different story of the Master's life. He began to follow Paul and learn of the life and teachings of Jesus in A.D. 47. Luke preserves much of the "grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" in his record as he gathered up these facts from Paul and others. Luke presents the Master as "the friend of publicans and sinners." He did not formulate his many notes into the Gospel until after Paul's death. Luke wrote in the year 82 in Achaia. He planned three books dealing with the history of Christ and Christianity but died in A.D. 90 just before he finished the second of these works, the "Acts of the Apostles."

As material for the compilation of his Gospel, Luke first depended upon the story of Jesus' life as Paul had related it to him. Luke's Gospel is, therefore, in some ways the Gospel according to Paul. But Luke had other sources of information. He not only interviewed scores of eyewitnesses to the numerous episodes of Jesus' life which he records, but he also had with him a copy of Mark's Gospel, that is, the first four fifths, Isador's narrative, and a brief record made in the year A.D. 78 at Antioch by a believer named Cedes. Luke also had a mutilated and much-edited copy of some notes purported to have been made by the Apostle Andrew.

4. The Gospel of John. The Gospel according to John relates much of Jesus' work in Judea and around Jerusalem which is not contained in the other records. This is the so-called Gospel according to John the son of Zebedee, and though John did not write it, he did inspire it. Since its first writing it has several times been edited to make it appear to have been written by John himself. When this record was made, John had the other Gospels, and he saw that much had been omitted; accordingly, in the year A.D. 101 he encouraged his associate, Nathan, a Greek Jew from Caesarea, to begin the writing. John supplied his material from memory and by reference to the three records already in existence. He had no written records of his own. The Epistle known as "First John" was written by John himself as a covering letter for the work which Nathan executed under his direction.

All these writers presented honest pictures of Jesus as they saw, remembered, or had learned of him, and as their concepts of these distant events were affected by their subsequent espousal of Paul's theology of Christianity. And these records, imperfect as they are, have been sufficient to change the course of the history of this world for almost two thousand years.

Hi Zuma!

quote:

Originally posted by alwilliams767:
Hi Zuma!

Hi Al,

I will give your credit; you obviously believe this New Age religion's false teachings. Which makes it all the sadder; that you have allowed yourself to be so deceived by Satan. And, even sadder that there may be some poor soul who will be deceived by your false Urantia Book teachings.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, you are following the teachings found on your Urantia Book New Age web site -- that you should try, by any means, any stealth, to work to infest Christian churches with your false religion.

But, Al, you keep posting your New Age religion rhetoric, your false teachings -- and I will be here, standing in the door of the church -- to refute it.

But, I do have one question, Al. Do you really believe that you have gained any credibility by creating these feminine alter egos and posting under these names? Al, even the most dense atheist -- knows it is you. So, just be honest enough to stay with one name.

Yes, the atheists and other non-believers, and some of our Liberal Theology Friends, will join forces and hold hands with you. They would do anything, join forces with anyone or anything which denies God or the Bible -- for they are just as deceived as you.

So, Al, whether you post as you -- or you post wearing the dress of ZumaGirl -- your Urantia Book is still New Age false teaching -- and is antithetical, totally polar opposites, of Christianity.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

Oh Bill, you say the sweetest things!

quote:

Originally posted by zumagirl:
Oh Bill, you say the sweetest things!

Hi Al,

When wearing your dress; what you say is still false teaching and New Age rhetoric!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Gray:
So, Al, whether you post as you -- or you post wearing the dress of ZumaGirl -- your Urantia Book is still New Age false teaching -- and is antithetical, totally polar opposites, of Christianity.

dang boy! is there ANYONE in your world who is not actually someone else?

lessie, of the six or so people who seem to regularly post here we have:

max and road puppy and fugly and crustymak are someone named skeptik. Mr jones is 'hollywood' (who i can't find on this forum in any form) and now AlWilliams and zuma are one in the same.

personally, max and mr jones seem to write a lot alike so if i had to id say they were one in the same.

my only querstion is, who is zippidedodah?

and of course these 'new kids' keep appearing one single time to blow smoke up bill's Depends which we all know is actually bill having to make up fans since no one else wants him. really kinda sad when you think about it. youd think he would wanna spend his time with grandkids but perhaps they despise him as much as we do?

any in case if my math is right, that means there are actually only three people on this forum chatting with each other. everyone else is a fake.

People are strange
When your stranger
Faces look ugly
When your alone
Women seem twiztid
When your unwanted
The street's around you are home when you're down

When your strange, faces come out of the rain
When your strange
No one remembers your name
When your strange
When your strange

it gets

Bill, that picture was pretty funny.

It's true, it's true, it's all true. I Al Williams am ZUMA. But wait, there's more. I am also SKEPTIC! That's right Bill, and I am DEEP FAT and JOY and FUGLY and 8I and even poor little Hoob! I am all these and more. In fact Bill... there's just you and me here,no one else. HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

Apparently it is beyond Bill's comprehension that there could be more than one follower of the Urantia Book here.

This is why I do not bother to speak with him often. I do much prefer the gender confusion to the jeers about Oprah... But I am sure this is only a temporary respite.

quote:

Originally posted by alwilliams767:
It's true, it's true, it's all true. I Al Williams am ZUMA. But wait, there's more. I am also SKEPTIC! That's right Bill, and I am DEEP FAT and JOY and FUGLY and 8I and even poor little Hoob! I am all these and more. In fact Bill... there's just you and me here,no one else. HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

Apparently it is beyond Bill's comprehension that there could be more than one follower of the Urantia Book here.

This is why I do not bother to speak with him often. I do much prefer the gender confusion to the jeers about Oprah... But I am sure this is only a temporary respite.

And all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't keep Al from putting Bill on unignore again.

Stop it me! I don't want to do this! Oh no, the keyboard it's calling it's calling... must post again as Hoob... must post again as Hoob...

Al (as Hoob)... You are very naughty. You are a fornicator (just like me) wait you are me… (never mind)

Your’ gonna BURN for this buddy! You and your fornicating atheist pals. Bill has POWER over you!!! (wait, I am Bill)

Um, this is gonna get complicated…

quote:

Originally posted by alwilliams767:
Stop it me! I don't want to do this! Oh no, the keyboard it's calling it's calling... must post again as Hoob... must post again as Hoob...

Al (as Hoob)... You are very naughty. You are a fornicator (just like me) wait you are me… (never mind)

Your’ gonna BURN for this buddy! You and your fornicating atheist pals. Bill has POWER over you!!! (wait, I am Bill)

Um, this is gonna get complicated…

Al, put down the beer, go sober up for a few hours, then try again when your head is clear.

Tha't right Al! Go sober up!

Wait, I am AL, correct?

All these multiple postings have gotten me so confused!

Maybe I can be you again hoob?

Just for a little while.

Ahh, that feels better!

AL, you are Bad, Bad, Bad.

God is very angry with you.

He is a wrathful God.

He gives people boils just for fun.

Sometimes he slaughters entire villages just to show who's boss.

Check it out.

It's all in the old testicle, er testement!