How many people think of Jesus as no more than a religious idol of Christianity?
How many people think of Jesus as no more than an image of a man in paintings and photographs with an imaginary face from the imaginations of artists?
How many people think of Jesus as no more than the baby of Christmas, represented by a ceramic or plastic Jesus under a green tree?
How many people think of Jesus as depicted in paintings and photographs as a baby still in his mother's arms?
And how many people think of Jesus as no more than a corpse on a crucifix, or as a good luck charm on a necklace?
On the other hand, how many people never think of Jesus as a real person, or even a real man?
At the same time, people believe that Mohammad of Islam was a real man.
People believe that the great thinkers of Greece, Socrates and Plato, were real men.
People believe that the pharaohs of Egypt, Alexander the Great, and the ceasars of Rome were real men.
But when the topic turns to people of the Bible, it is as if these people were not real humans.
When you were a student in school, did you ever have history lessons about the kings of Israel? These were real men, and their lives have had an impact on human history. Why have these men been ignored by secular education?
The genealogies of the Bible are true, and people today can trace their family trees through the names recorded in the Bible all the way back to Adam and Eve, at which time genealogies end.
At the same time, Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, and Mary's image has also been captured in paintings and photographs from the imaginations of artists, and people believe that Mary was a real person. Or was she? Or do people think of Mary as never being a real person? Or is she also no more than an image from the imaginations of people?
Even the apostles of Christ have been canonized by the church of Rome and people pray to their souls as if they are gods and capable of answering prayer---while the bones of the apostles are still in the ground. Were the apostles real people and not Christ?
Where is Christ, then, in the midst of Christian idolatry? Was it Christ who died for sin, or was it other people? Was it Christ who arose from death, or was it other people?
Jesus was a baby, a boy, and a man. But if Jesus is not considered to have been a real person, walking on the earth, why are the people that surrounded his life been elevated above the name of Christ?
Jesus was human. Jesus had hunger and thirst. Jesus got dirty, so he had to take baths and wash his clothes. Jesus had human emotions, or feelings. Jesus wept. And on the cross, he experienced the agony of pain and suffering in his death by crucifixion.
In religious Christianity, however, people believe in the IMAGES of people of the Bible, yet they do not believe in the Bible. The words of Jesus are not important to them. They do not consider that Jesus had half brothers and half sisters, born to Mary and Joseph. The life of Christ is not included in their history lessons. Their belief, therefore, is in their imaginations, which is from the imaginations of others. For even their salvation is an imaginary salvation. They are pious, they are proud, and they believe that it is their RELIGION that provides their way to heaven, and not Christ.
For had it not been for the resurrection of Christ, we would have never heard of Jesus of Nazareth. We would have never heard about the apostles and disciples of Christ. The New Testament would have never been written. Churches would have never been established all over the world. And religious Christianity, filled with the images of idols, would have never been created from the imaginations of men.
I am the LORD thy God.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and four generation of them that hate me;
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
(Exodus 20: 2-6)
How many people think of Jesus as no more than an image of a man in paintings and photographs with an imaginary face from the imaginations of artists?
How many people think of Jesus as no more than the baby of Christmas, represented by a ceramic or plastic Jesus under a green tree?
How many people think of Jesus as depicted in paintings and photographs as a baby still in his mother's arms?
And how many people think of Jesus as no more than a corpse on a crucifix, or as a good luck charm on a necklace?
On the other hand, how many people never think of Jesus as a real person, or even a real man?
At the same time, people believe that Mohammad of Islam was a real man.
People believe that the great thinkers of Greece, Socrates and Plato, were real men.
People believe that the pharaohs of Egypt, Alexander the Great, and the ceasars of Rome were real men.
But when the topic turns to people of the Bible, it is as if these people were not real humans.
When you were a student in school, did you ever have history lessons about the kings of Israel? These were real men, and their lives have had an impact on human history. Why have these men been ignored by secular education?
The genealogies of the Bible are true, and people today can trace their family trees through the names recorded in the Bible all the way back to Adam and Eve, at which time genealogies end.
At the same time, Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, and Mary's image has also been captured in paintings and photographs from the imaginations of artists, and people believe that Mary was a real person. Or was she? Or do people think of Mary as never being a real person? Or is she also no more than an image from the imaginations of people?
Even the apostles of Christ have been canonized by the church of Rome and people pray to their souls as if they are gods and capable of answering prayer---while the bones of the apostles are still in the ground. Were the apostles real people and not Christ?
Where is Christ, then, in the midst of Christian idolatry? Was it Christ who died for sin, or was it other people? Was it Christ who arose from death, or was it other people?
Jesus was a baby, a boy, and a man. But if Jesus is not considered to have been a real person, walking on the earth, why are the people that surrounded his life been elevated above the name of Christ?
Jesus was human. Jesus had hunger and thirst. Jesus got dirty, so he had to take baths and wash his clothes. Jesus had human emotions, or feelings. Jesus wept. And on the cross, he experienced the agony of pain and suffering in his death by crucifixion.
In religious Christianity, however, people believe in the IMAGES of people of the Bible, yet they do not believe in the Bible. The words of Jesus are not important to them. They do not consider that Jesus had half brothers and half sisters, born to Mary and Joseph. The life of Christ is not included in their history lessons. Their belief, therefore, is in their imaginations, which is from the imaginations of others. For even their salvation is an imaginary salvation. They are pious, they are proud, and they believe that it is their RELIGION that provides their way to heaven, and not Christ.
For had it not been for the resurrection of Christ, we would have never heard of Jesus of Nazareth. We would have never heard about the apostles and disciples of Christ. The New Testament would have never been written. Churches would have never been established all over the world. And religious Christianity, filled with the images of idols, would have never been created from the imaginations of men.
I am the LORD thy God.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and four generation of them that hate me;
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
(Exodus 20: 2-6)
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