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!
Zuma

AMONG THE GENTILES
Although the social and economic condition of the Roman state was not of the highest order, the widespread domestic peace and prosperity was propitious for the bestowal of Michael. In the first century after Christ the society of the Mediterranean world consisted of five well-defined strata:

1. The aristocracy. The upper classes with money and official power, the privileged and ruling groups.
2. The business groups. The merchant princes and the bankers, the traders--the big importers and exporters--the international merchants.
3. The small middle class. Although this group was indeed small, it was very influential and provided the moral backbone of the early Christian church, which encouraged these groups to continue in their various crafts and trades. Among the Jews many of the Pharisees belonged to this class of tradesmen.
4. The free proletariat. This group had little or no social standing. Though proud of their freedom, they were placed at great disadvantage because they were forced to compete with slave labor. The upper classes regarded them disdainfully, allowing that they were useless except for "breeding purposes."
5. The slaves. Half the population of the Roman state were slaves; many were superior individuals and quickly made their way up among the free proletariat and even among the tradesmen. The majority were either mediocre or very inferior.

Slavery, even of superior peoples, was a feature of Roman military conquest. The power of the master over his slave was unqualified. The early Christian church was largely composed of the lower classes and these slaves.

Superior slaves often received wages and by saving their earnings were able to purchase their freedom. Many such emancipated slaves rose to high positions in state, church, and the business world. And it was just such possibilities that made the early Christian church so tolerant of this modified form of slavery.
There was no widespread social problem in the Roman Empire in the first century after Christ. The major portion of the populace regarded themselves as belonging in that group into which they chanced to be born. There was always the open door through which talented and able individuals could ascend from the lower to the higher strata of Roman society, but the people were generally content with their social rank. They were not class conscious, neither did they look upon these class distinctions as being unjust or wrong. Christianity was in no sense an economic movement having for its purpose the amelioration of the miseries of the depressed classes.

Although woman enjoyed more freedom throughout the Roman Empire than in her restricted position in Palestine, the family devotion and natural affection of the Jews far transcended that of the gentile world.

GENTILE PHILOSOPHY
The gentiles were, from a moral standpoint, somewhat inferior to the Jews, but there was present in the hearts of the nobler gentiles abundant soil of natural goodness and potential human affection in which it was possible for the seed of Christianity to sprout and bring forth an abundant harvest of moral character and spiritual achievement. The gentile world was then dominated by four great philosophies, all more or less derived from the earlier Platonism of the Greeks. These schools of philosophy were:

1. The Epicurean. This school of thought was dedicated to the pursuit of happiness. The better Epicureans were not given to sensual excesses. At least this doctrine helped to deliver the Romans from a more deadly form of fatalism; it taught that men could do something to improve their terrestrial status. It did effectually combat ignorant superstition.
2. The Stoic. Stoicism was the superior philosophy of the better classes. The Stoics believed that a controlling Reason-Fate dominated all nature. They taught that the soul of man was divine; that it was imprisoned in the evil body of physical nature. Man's soul achieved liberty by living in harmony with nature, with God; thus virtue came to be its own reward. Stoicism ascended to a sublime morality, ideals never since transcended by any purely human system of philosophy. While the Stoics professed to be the "offspring of God," they failed to know him and therefore failed to find him. Stoicism remained a philosophy; it never became a religion. Its followers sought to attune their minds to the harmony of the Universal Mind, but they failed to envisage themselves as the children of a loving Father. Paul leaned heavily toward Stoicism when he wrote, "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
3. The Cynic. Although the Cynics traced their philosophy to Diogenes of Athens, they derived much of their doctrine from the remnants of the teachings of Machiventa Melchizedek. Cynicism had formerly been more of a religion than a philosophy. At least the Cynics made their religio-philosophy democratic. In the fields and in the market places they continually preached their doctrine that "man could save himself if he would." They preached simplicity and virtue and urged men to meet death fearlessly. These wandering Cynic preachers did much to prepare the spiritually hungry populace for the later Christian missionaries. Their plan of popular preaching was much after the pattern, and in accordance with the style, of Paul's Epistles.
4. The Skeptic. Skepticism asserted that knowledge was fallacious, and that conviction and assurance were impossible. It was a purely negative attitude and never became widespread.
These philosophies were semireligious; they were often invigorating, ethical, and ennobling but were usually above the common people. With the possible exception of Cynicism, they were philosophies for the strong and the wise, not religions of salvation for even the poor and the weak.

Hi all,

Al Williams was not making any headway in evangelizing his New Age Urantia Book religion on the Forum; so, now he has created a female alter ego in hopes that this persona can get better reception.

Al, it is not you, or your alter ego, that we oppose -- it is your New Age religion we oppose.

And, Al, as long as you copy/paste your New Age Urantia Book rhetoric on the Religion Forum -- I will be here to refute it and to shine the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ upon its darkness.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

quote:

And, Al, as long as you copy/paste your New Age Urantia Book rhetoric on the Religion Forum -- I will be here to refute it and to shine the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ upon its darkness.

ya right. you shed about as much light as a candle in a hurricane. that cinder of burning hatred you have for your fellow man 9except ones you find attractive), now that's a shiner!

quote:

Originally posted by Fugly:

quote:

And, Al, as long as you copy/paste your New Age Urantia Book rhetoric on the Religion Forum -- I will be here to refute it and to shine the Light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ upon its darkness.

ya right. you shed about as much light as a candle in a hurricane. that cinder of burning hatred you have for your fellow man 9except ones you find attractive), now that's a shiner!

HI SKEPTIK!

HI DUMBASK!

(second time - wtf?)

Bill is fixated on his favorite atheist, who once went by the screen name "Skeptik". I know that Skep has gone on to bigger and better things and quit the forum cold turkey. But Bill can't give him up. Skep's become sort of an obsession with Bill...I guess that makes Bill a cyber-stalker. He thinks everyone who disagrees with him with a new presence on the forum is Skep.

HI ZUMAGIRL, and welcome to the forum!

I'm so excited to see another Urantia Book reader posting here! I grew up in Southern California, near Point Dume. Have you lived there long? Do I know you?

There used to be quite a few Urantia Book readers down in Paradise Cove and up in Topanga Canyon (Where I am from). Dan and Edith, Robert and Naomi... A few others whose names escape me.

At any rate, it is so AWESOME! This thing you are doing! YOU GO GIRL!!! I thought about doing it, but never did, as it is going to be quite a commitment to publish all the papers.

Best of luck and I'll be talking to you soon.

Al

Oh, and no doubt you have encountered Mr. Gray. I put him on ignore so I could have intelligent conversations with people. I suggest you do the same.

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT WHEN WE SEE A "NEW AGER" TALKING TO HIMSELF!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Gray:
DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT WHEN WE SEE A "NEW AGER" TALKING TO HIMSELF!

you ARE a new ager, dumbask. your belief system only started about 150 years ago right here in the US of A. Fundamentalism is right up there with Mormonism and Scientology as the newest ugly face of non-biblical teaching about the love of Jesus.

Let's see, it's now Fugly 6, Mr. Gray 0.

quote:

Originally posted by alwilliams767:
There used to be quite a few Urantia Book readers down in Paradise Cove and up in Topanga Canyon (Where I am from).

hi al.

i just wanted to put perhaps a different face on Christianity from the warped f-tard that infects this fine forum and beats you over the head for your beliefs.

i disagree with your beliefs about Jesus as much as i disagree with mormons and scientologists and perhaps even atheists about their beliefs. i am just glad that you (and atheists) still seem to be searching for the truth.

i hope we (all of us) find the truth some day and hope that truth will instill love and compassion instead of the hatred and bitterness i see espoused by one or two people here every day. don't let the old wrinkle stop you from your search.

i wish you well in your pursuit.

Hi Fugly!

Thank you for your kind words.

And I most certainly respect your right to see the universe in a different light from me! After all, the way I see it, no one here has the exclusive rights on truth. I say we all perceive only a relative vision of truth. And all truth is first distilled down and processed into channels which can be understood by that individual who is the sum total of the experiences of our short live here on this confused planet.

I wish you joyful fulfillment in your vision of who you perceive Jesus to be. We both follow the same man, Joshua Ben Joseph, the Son of Man and the Son of God, regardless of the nuances within which we view him.

And I am certain that all further illuminations of truth will indeed instill the love and compassion of which you speak. Indeed, I have love and compassion even for Bill, although I have chosen no longer to follow the hateful bile which spews forth from his keyboard. I know that someday he and I will share a good laugh (or the cosmic equivalent of mirth) about this, our meager understanding of such things…

All the Best to you Fugly:

Your friend,
Al

Hi Al,

Finding the Truth is easy. You begin with,"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Then, you travel to John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Next, you stop at John 14:6, "I am the Way, and the TRUTH, and the Life; NO ONE comes to the Father, but through Me."

Next stop is John 14:1-3, where Jesus tells us of the coming Rapture, "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

Then, we read, in 2 Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad."

For the believer, this is the Bema Seat Judgment which occurs in heaven, after the Rapture, during the seven year Tribulation. This is a judgment of rewards in heaven and precedes the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

For the non-believer, this judgment is the Great White Throne Judgment -- and most certainly is not for rewards. The non-believer is allowed by God to stand before Jesus Christ -- to review his/her life; to see how, though given many opportunities to believe, he/she continued to choose to deny God; and to affirm their self-chosen eternal condemnation to hell.

Following these TRUTHS, we see Jesus Christ returning at the end of the Tribulation; judging the Tribulation survivors; and establishing His Millennial Kingdom on earth, from the throne of David in Jerusalem, and ruling the earth in peace for one thousand years. The only perfect theocracy.

Then, there will be the final battle, when Satan, who has been released from the abyss, will make one final assault upon Jesus Christ and the holy city, Jerusalem. Satan's army will be supernaturally destroyed, and Satan will be cast into eternal hell.

The New Heaven, the New Earth, and the New Jerusalem will be established -- and Jesus Christ will lead all of His people into a glorious eternity; to be with Him forever.

That, my Friend, is the TRUTH. You will NOT find this TRUTH in your Urantia Book; you will NOT find this TRUTH in any New Age tome or in any science book. You will only find it in God Word, the Bible.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill