Thoughts

My Thoughts On Jesus

【洪】ILHONG 2004. 12. 21. 01:30

(Please read this before my essay - so that my essay will be less offensive to the Christians http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6653824/site/newsweek/)

I dont believe that he is god. However there is a reverence pouring out from me when I think of him. Perhaps its because I have been to a Roman Catholic Church since I was a kid. After all, officially, both my father and mother sides are Catholics, and I lived with my grandmother who literally spent her waking hours in prayers. However I also know that there are more reasons behind it.

Now that I understand what Jesus has been trying to do ? which is to spread the true meaning of love of humanity, I think I understand him. Maybe its my understanding from my own point of view. However, despite of how long I ponder upon this issue, it makes so much sense in the way I see it.

First, as written in the Newsweek, Jesus birth can be very controversial. The Jews, even at present, train their children to memorize the whole OT, at least the book of Psalms. The very book of Psalms in Hebrew is, after all, written in a way such that the whole book would be easy to be remembered and recited. Knowing this, with their prophecies, it should have been very easy for some writers to make Jesus life to meet the points asserted by OTs long waiting/waited Messiah.

But then, why was Jesus needed to be worshipped? Why did he later then proclaimed that himself is the son of God? He should have had chosen the easiest way to proclaim his understanding of love. Of course, this love could not be argued, because its logically, almost, perfect. Despite of how misconceptions and misunderstandings has been made due to the other meaning of love, the erotic love, the love Jesus was talking about is logically perfect love. Perhaps, its the very sad fact that there is no other word better than the word love, which has dual meaning, had to be used, but then, its just another great fit for something like that.

This perhaps is the reason why I have a certain respect for some guy named Jesus Christ whether he is just a fictional character or not. The fact that King Herod never existed makes very doubtful points for non-Christian perspective. I believe there should be more if I have read the Bible for last eight years trying to remember ? for I have been reading the Bible for eight years to forget what I was reading.

However, with so much misunderstanding of love Jesus was talking about, I find it really interesting to know that how Christianity survived. Love your enemy is a very controversial statement to the good god trying to defy the devils he falsely created. After all, Yahweh is just a god of some tribe, as all other gods of that age in every corner of the world. Of course, some Christians would always say: Its how gods work is showing ?is just ridiculous. I will tell them: Hey, Buddhism has longer history and even all the Lamas are alive even China attacked and invaded Tibet.

The religion indeed as a tool for colonization has been a great success for the Roman empire (and partly the Ottoman empire) and Spanish/ Portuguese colonization has been taking big advantages by using religion as the center of the everyday life and politics. However, it should still be acknowledged that USs education uses for the colonization has resulted better ? a good example? The Philippines.

Jesus should be respected after all. He may be the one Jew who did not think orthodoxically on Judaism and love, but what he attained from the meditation on love is indeed grandeur. Its somehow no surprise that Karl Marx and Emmanuel Levinas say things similar to Jesus and that they are all Jew. However, as my mathematics teachers say, its not always good enough to have just good idea; you have to be very good in representation of the idea. After all, I think all what Jesus, Marx, and Levinas said is just another representation of Judaism.

However, for a pagan, it
s always easier to approach philosophy than religious beliefs and among those, the oldest is Jesus
, and he or his disciples should have made him the son of God..

Yes, it indeed makes a perfect sense.


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I welcome comments from pagans... not really from Christians... non-Christians should be okay...