Chris:  I am trying to help you even if you do not appreciate it.  First
you need to know that there is a difference between what Jesus said and
what others said, "Jesus said."  If you can keep that distinction, you can
resolve many problems about Jesus.  Jesus did not write any book! But what
others have said that Jesus said and did make him the greatest human being
ever lived on this planet, greater than anybody else known, that cared for
the poor and the suffering.  That is what matters and make him your
model/ideal!  Goodluck to you in your thinking.  Sincerely,  Geevarghese

At 03:12 PM 8/24/03 -0400, Christopher J Stuart wrote:
>If only the Bible were so simple and consistent that everything said in
the Old Testament jived with what is said in the New Testament.  If you
wanted that kind of consistency you'd have to do a lot of editorial
cutting; that would be a mercifully slim and readable volume.
>
>Does Jesus ever spout the Ten Commandments in the Gospel?  Near as I could
ever tell he wants you to give up all your property -- so if you've got any
house that you call "yours," even that might be a problem.  With all his
talk about the greater virtue of giving one's last penny as opposed to a
rich man giving a million and not worrying about the future and letting God
take care of your food and clothes like he does the birds and lillies, I
don't think he would have had much of a stake in preserving the
mortgage-paying, insurance-buying, car-driving, Bi-Lo shopping,
video-renting, lawn-mowing life that most of us middle-class Americans
(myself included) live these days.
>
> I think it was already pretty clear, however, that neither Dr. Garrison
nor anyone else so far has suggested that Jesus would have been a
Stalinist, although it does give one the opportunity to express some easy
moral outrage.  And, hey, if only we had an evil-o-meter that would light
up when applied to the worst governments -- I bet it would light up and go
ding, ding, ding if applied to the Hussein regime we supported in the 80's
as well as to the one we dismantled in 2003.  America is and always has
been more interested in its own national interests than in the loving
kindness of the gospel.  The framers of the consitution may have had Jesus
in mind (although that's pretty debatable), but I don't think there's
anything to suggest that Jesus ever had the US in mind when working up his
philosophy.  That's all I got out of Dr. Garrison's message.
>
>Chris Stuart
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Billy Harris <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2003 22:25:34 -0400
>Subject: Re: [UTCSTAFF] Jesus
>
>I object strongly to the the claim that Jesus supports in any way
>the most evil governments of the 20th century.
>
>Communism has killed tens of millions of people through government-enforced
>economic policies that directly caused massive famine. Stalin and Mao
>have executed millions of people for exercising their God-given rights, and
>have variously persecuted, outlawed, or restricted religious worship. This is
>in addition to the hundreds of thousands who suffer under in prison work
camps,
>where the death rate is 10-30% per year. Personally, I think we should also
>include the sins of the National Socialist German Workers Party as well.
>
>Yes, Jesus said in many ways that we should be kind to the poor. Yes, Acts
>holds as a positive example disciples who "from time to time" voluntarily
sold
>their property and donated it to the church. However, the very existence of
>the tenth commandment("Thou shalt not covet your neighbors house...) seems to
>show that it is not sinful for one person to own a nicer house than another.
>
>Likewise, "A worker is worthy of his wages" can be interpreted in many ways,
>but "Therefore, take his wages and distrubte them 'fairly'" is not one of
them.
>
>Billy Harris
>
>
>Christopher Stuart
>UC Foundation Assistant Professor
>English Department
>University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
>
>