Easter

[Hitro]

Not at all, maybe?

 

[Plexus]

Hey, OJH, have you ever read CS Lewis? He is by far my favorite Christian author. I'm reading The Problem of Pain right now.

 

[kmad]

Jesus died, let's eat chocolate.

 

[anonymous4401]

It's not Easter yet here in Hawaii.

 

[Plexus]

Originally posted by kmad
Jesus died,

and then rose again.

Originally posted by kmad
let's eat chocolate.

I agree.

 

[Stile]

I believe. Have to work today, also. (dang, nontraditional hours)

Originally posted by Plexus
Hey, OJH, have you ever read CS Lewis? He is by far my favorite Christian author. I'm reading The Problem of Pain right now.

Reading Out of the Silent Planet now.

 

[onejayhawk]

Originally posted by Plexus
Hey, OJH, have you ever read CS Lewis? He is by far my favorite Christian author. I'm reading The Problem of Pain right now.

Follow that with A grief observed. It is a recounting of the aftermathn of his wife's death from cancer. Also try to rent Shadowlands which is the story of his meeting Joy, his wife. His book on that is Suprised by Joy. You have to love a guy who puts his whole life into his books.

J

PS You can all call me J. Jayhawks are my team, who would be champs if the seniors could make FTs.

 

[allan2]

Met with some uncles, cousins, and my grandparents at a restaurant with a magnificent Easter brunch buffet. Got back a couple hours ago, my gut's out two more inches now .... Every year, we meet at a different restaurant--but this buffet has been the best so far.

Resurrection of Christ, or Ancient Spring Feast--it's all good.

:burp:

 

[TrailblazingScot]

11 hours at a friends birthday party, then MORE Easter EGGES when I got home...which is now!

 

[Archer 007]

Originally posted by stormerne
Some might think it ironic that this central Christian festival is named after a heathen goddess called Eostre.

I see it as very ironic. Another varation i heard was that it was based out of a holiday that celebrated the Babylonian goddess Ishtarti (sp).

 

[Stapel]

Happy Easter everybody!

We (the family on my mother's side) had a decadent dinner saturday and a decadent brunch on easter sunday. We do come together every easter, but this year we made it a real feast. It may sound cynical: But I think we all realize this might very well be the last time my grandma will be with us.


Now about the first post:

a man dead almost 48 hours, certified dead by methods which would still be acceptable today, rose from his grave, fully alive and able to walk about, speak and eat like a normal person

There is a theory, that Jesus was NOT dead. What methods did they use to 'certify' him dead? This is new to me!

 

[insurgent]

Did any of you watch the show "The Real Jesus Christ" on Discovery Channel"? It questioned much of the biblical story about Jesus and made some convincing arguments about an alternate and more correct version of the story of Jesus Christ.

I found this text on the net summarising much of what was said in the program:

From: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/tikkun.html
As these scholars further hone their theories, certain issues dominate the emerging picture of the historical Jesus:

Jesus preached the kingdom of God, not himself.

In some way God would act in history (or was now acting) to effect a change in society as they knew it. Whether this would be at some future time (Sanders) or already present in his ministry (Borg, Crossan, Mack) or as a dynamic drama in its first stage, so both present and future (Meier) Jesus preached God's power to effect a reversal of values and the emergence of a just society.

This kingdom is about God, not Jesus himself, and is on earth. It addresses two main concerns of peasants: bread and death. "They have too much of the second and too little of the first," quips Crossan.



Jesus is a Jew, and the early kingdom movement'-the expectation of God's earthly rule and Israel's liberation from foreign oppression-is not the founding of a religion called Christianity but a thoroughly Jewish phenomenon. Unfortunately, we know relatively little of the Judaism of the first century, and much of what we do know derives from the New Testament.

The historical Jesus and the Jesus of the early church bear little resemblance to one another. Even more tenuous is the connection between the historical Jesus and later Christianity. Contemporary Jesus scholars seem to agree one can be a good Christian without knowing a bit about this Jesus of history. The flesh-and-blood Jesus in the late '20s of the first century gave way to the reconstructed and interpreted Jesus of the gospels in the 70s and '80s and was superseded by the "Christ of faith" of the later church. When believers speak of their faith in Jesus, it is this last figure to which they refer.

The emphasis on Jesus' divinity has often eclipsed his humanity. Many church controversies focused on creedal issues, such as Jesus' relation to the Father. From the nineteenth century on, much scholarly debate has swirled around such supernatural elements of the Jesus story as the virgin birth and the resurrection. Sanders notes the recent surge of interest in "Mary's hymen and Jesus' corpse. "Yet the human Jesus leaves hints of having been very human indeed: a colorful sort, more given to feasting than fasting and hanging around with disreputable types of which his family probably disapproved.

John the Baptist exerted tremendous influence over Jesus and his message. While contemporary scholars would acknowledge that the relation with the Baptist is one of the most likely authentic pieces of the gospel traditions (since the evangelists seem a trifle embarrassed by it, they probably didn't invent it), Meier develops the idea that Jesus was probably part of the Baptist's early circle and his fiery apocalyptic theology was a constant in Jesus' own ministry. When Jesus left the circle of the Baptist to start his own ministry, he seems to have taken some of the Baptist's followers with him.

Jesus' view of himself differed widely from the early church's. Whether he saw himself as the Messiah is debatable, but he almost certainly did not see himself as divine. As Bork puts it, "If one of Jesus' disciples had spoken of him with the words of the Nicene Creed, one can only imagine him saying, 'What?' Sanders poignantly remarks that Jesus may have died a disappointed man. The earliest gospel reports his final cry from the cross to be one of utter despair: "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?" Whether historical or not, we cannot be sure, but it points to the element of tragedy in his death.

His followers, and even a non-believer like the Jewish historian Josephus, recall Jesus as a healer, exorcist, and miracle worker. Interestingly, his detractors neither call him a fraud, nor say the miracles were faked, but attribute his powers to Satan or demons.

Except for a few of the women, the bulk of Jesus' followers abandoned him at the time of his death. Nor did his family seem to support him during his ministry. At one point (Mark 3:20-2 1), they think he is possessed.

Remarkably, Jesus' death did not mark the end of his movement. His followers continued to believe in his message of God's Kingdom.

The program argued that there was a small rivaling church "The Jerusalem Church" led by James (Ya'akov, Jacob) which took the direct heritage of Jesus on. It was later destroyed by the Romans as it preached revolution as Jesus supposedly did. It had the different view of Jesus and his life - with Messiah in the meaning of "King of the Jews" instead of the "Son of God".
In the Bible Jesus was largely projected as an unpolitical saviour who wasn't anti-Roman as "in reality". The crucifixion was alledgedly also as opposed to the biblical view unpopular among Jews, it was sanctioned by Pilatus who was in reality a rather cruel and oppressive despotic governor to Palestine. In teh Bible, Jesus is betrayed by the scapegoat, Judas, but actually, the program claimed, the Romans executed Jesus in order to stop this revolutionary movement...

 

[onejayhawk]

Originally posted by Stapel
There is a theory, that Jesus was NOT dead. What methods did they use to 'certify' him dead? This is new to me!

Those of putting a probe into the heart cavity and extracting a blood sample which had seperated into plasma and solids. The fact that it was a full sized spear, and that the cavity was rupured is overkill. The theory that his body was stolen was debunked at the time because of the guard. The theory that he was never dead is debunked as above.

J

 

[cgannon64]

I went to my grandma's for dinner, it was very fun. On an interesting note, my life just had a big change the day of/day after Easter. We're moving - I guess its rebirth and Resurrection. Whether its good or bad, we'll just have to see.

 

[anonymous4401]

Unfortunately, there will always be unbelievers who try to debunk Jesus's miracles. After all, who knows better than the guys who were there?

 

[rjgo]

you see i might be jewish, but i can relate. its so good just to bite into a gooey marshmellow peep. the bird ones are better than the bunny type.

rjgo

 

[ajkcdad]

Originally posted by onejayhawk
On Good Friday, the day before Passover of that year...J

Excuse my stupidity, while I realize that Passover is eight days long, I thought that Jesus celebrated Passover dinner the night BEFORE his death - a/k/a the Last Supper...please clear up this confusion...thanks

 

[Siegmund]

Let me see.

I was done celebrating Ostara a month ago. The peeps and Cadbury eggs are too sweet for me to like eating them. And I didn't even get a day off work for it. True, I don't go to the office Sundays, but this one I spent doing yardwork.

Humbug. Maybe the next holiday up on the calendar will be better.

 

[CurtSibling]

I salute the pagan aspect of easter.

The idea has been hijacked by christianity, then hijacked by commercialism.

As MrPrez says, it's a holiday...Be happy.

 

[Stapel]

Originally posted by onejayhawk
Those of putting a probe into the heart cavity and extracting a blood sample which had seperated into plasma and solids. The fact that it was a full sized spear, and that the cavity was rupured is overkill. The theory that his body was stolen was debunked at the time because of the guard. The theory that he was never dead is debunked as above.J

I am not convinced.

I think it is not wise to get into a 'is God there' discussion. But could you (or others) give more specific answers?

How can we be certain Jesus was indeed dead? I do not need to be sertian: a good clue will do!
Where can we obtain info that the wounds were lethal?

There are several stories of crucifiction survivors.

Was the crucifiction of Jesus, in a roman view, one of many, or was this a special one? If so, there might be more info on the subject.

@4401:

Unfortunately, there will always be unbelievers who try to debunk Jesus's miracles. After all, who knows better than the guys who were there?

This is exactly what I want to know! Are there any documents on Jesus's miracles from non-followers (Romans?) ?