I have a different take on this, but I will comment in another thread. I'm sure you will not agree with me.
"And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law"
This is not what Jesus said we ought to do. He taught when you do evil, evil comes into you and corrupts your soul. When you do good, good comes into you and brightens your soul and you brighten the world with it. He said the answer is the spark in you. His message was different than Paul's. When you love someone and that person loves you back, your spark glows. When you become a teacher and your students learn well, your spark glows. You try different things until you find the things that make your spark glow.
Jesus can show you the way but you have to discover truth yourself and that's why this is so hard for people to accept because people don't want to accept individual responsibility. Jesus says there's a spark inside of you. And it's your responsibility, not an obligation, but a responsibility to let it grow. If you let it grow, you'll bring happiness to the world. You'll bring happiness to yourself, and you'll be able to feast with the divine in heaven. But this is really hard. You have to take individual responsibility. You have to make mistakes. you have to suffer and grow. Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All.". Show me one place where Paul teaches any of these.
I showed you that Paul preaching faith in Jesus was the same as Jesus preaching it
No you didn't. Again here we have a strong disagreement. Paul preaches faith, Jesus never does. Why is belief more important than behavior? Why would a loving God send good people to hell just because they were born in the wrong culture and never heard of Jesus? Why does there need to be a second coming if Jesus already accomplished his mission? And why do we have to worship Jesus if salvation is supposed to be about God's grace, not about our actions? And the standard Christian answer to all these questions is miracle, mystery, and magic. Don't question it, just believe it. Just embrace it. Faith is more important than reason. Have I left anything out? I see you're quoting from the Bible. Don't bother, first of all I have read it several times and secondly I have many bibles at my finger tips. All you have to do is provide the reference, I'll do the rest, if I have to. Please give me real life examples, use critical thinking, us logic and try to connect the dots. That's what I'm doing. What's the purpose of exploring Church doctrine. You're not going to convince me of anything that way. Also, I don't expect to convince you of anything either. George Orwell said "“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”. I would like to add to that quote and say: He who can understand the present, could understand the past.
They should strive for Mosaic purity so much more that they realize it can't be done except supernaturally (as Jesus and gnostics both agree).
Again I disagree. A lot of Jesus's teachings go against Jewish religious authority. You know, Jesus is living in Judea, which is a Roman province, but the day-to-day administration is run by Jewish priests. And these Jewish priests teach people to follow the law, to follow the Sabbath, meaning do not work on Saturdays, to obey the law of Moses, to keep all the customs and traditions of the Jewish faith. But according to the Bible, Jesus says, "No, what's important is not following the letter of the law, but following the spirit of God. What matters is the condition of your heart, not whether you perform the correct rituals.". And this creates a conflict because Jesus is essentially rebelling against the authority of the Jewish priests.
You note "Jesus had nothing against the Roman Empire", but then you appear to fault Paul for having nothing against the Empire either.
You misunderstood. Nothing wrong with Paul going along with the system. Otherwise it would been a failed operation, before it even started. Intelligence operations don't work that way. What I'm saying is Paul had connections to Roman power at the highest levels. His family had wealth and citizenship. He had access to military protection whenever he needed it. He had authority that no ordinary person would have. And the message he preached served Roman interests perfectly. It neutralized the most dangerous threat Rome faced. It turned potential rebels into peaceful citizens. It transformed a movement that could have ignited empire wide Jewish revolt into a religion of personal salvation that taught submission to earthly authority. Whether Paul was consciously working as an asset or whether he was unwitting tool, the result was the same.
I have a different take on this, but I will comment in another thread. I'm sure you will not agree with me.
This is not what Jesus said we ought to do. He taught when you do evil, evil comes into you and corrupts your soul. When you do good, good comes into you and brightens your soul and you brighten the world with it. He said the answer is the spark in you. His message was different than Paul's. When you love someone and that person loves you back, your spark glows. When you become a teacher and your students learn well, your spark glows. You try different things until you find the things that make your spark glow. Jesus can show you the way but you have to discover truth yourself and that's why this is so hard for people to accept because people don't want to accept individual responsibility. Jesus says there's a spark inside of you. And it's your responsibility, not an obligation, but a responsibility to let it grow. If you let it grow, you'll bring happiness to the world. You'll bring happiness to yourself, and you'll be able to feast with the divine in heaven. But this is really hard. You have to take individual responsibility. You have to make mistakes. you have to suffer and grow. Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All.". Show me one place where Paul teaches any of these.
No you didn't. Again here we have a strong disagreement. Paul preaches faith, Jesus never does. Why is belief more important than behavior? Why would a loving God send good people to hell just because they were born in the wrong culture and never heard of Jesus? Why does there need to be a second coming if Jesus already accomplished his mission? And why do we have to worship Jesus if salvation is supposed to be about God's grace, not about our actions? And the standard Christian answer to all these questions is miracle, mystery, and magic. Don't question it, just believe it. Just embrace it. Faith is more important than reason. Have I left anything out? I see you're quoting from the Bible. Don't bother, first of all I have read it several times and secondly I have many bibles at my finger tips. All you have to do is provide the reference, I'll do the rest, if I have to. Please give me real life examples, use critical thinking, us logic and try to connect the dots. That's what I'm doing. What's the purpose of exploring Church doctrine. You're not going to convince me of anything that way. Also, I don't expect to convince you of anything either. George Orwell said "“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”. I would like to add to that quote and say: He who can understand the present, could understand the past.
Again I disagree. A lot of Jesus's teachings go against Jewish religious authority. You know, Jesus is living in Judea, which is a Roman province, but the day-to-day administration is run by Jewish priests. And these Jewish priests teach people to follow the law, to follow the Sabbath, meaning do not work on Saturdays, to obey the law of Moses, to keep all the customs and traditions of the Jewish faith. But according to the Bible, Jesus says, "No, what's important is not following the letter of the law, but following the spirit of God. What matters is the condition of your heart, not whether you perform the correct rituals.". And this creates a conflict because Jesus is essentially rebelling against the authority of the Jewish priests.
You misunderstood. Nothing wrong with Paul going along with the system. Otherwise it would been a failed operation, before it even started. Intelligence operations don't work that way. What I'm saying is Paul had connections to Roman power at the highest levels. His family had wealth and citizenship. He had access to military protection whenever he needed it. He had authority that no ordinary person would have. And the message he preached served Roman interests perfectly. It neutralized the most dangerous threat Rome faced. It turned potential rebels into peaceful citizens. It transformed a movement that could have ignited empire wide Jewish revolt into a religion of personal salvation that taught submission to earthly authority. Whether Paul was consciously working as an asset or whether he was unwitting tool, the result was the same.