The Myth of Christianity
To explain my premise I must first discuss Judaism. Most Christians think it is just a religion based on the books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It is more than that.
Judaism is the religion, philosophy and way of life of the Jewish people.
There are more Jewish texts than the Tanahk (The Hebrew Bible). There is also Mishnah and commentairies (Jewish oral traditions), the Tosefta and minor tractates (Jewish Oral Law), the Midrashic literature (legal and non-legal interpretations), Halakhic literature (a collective body of Jewish law as well as customs and traditions), a collection of Jewish thought and ethics, a book of prayer and liturgy and classical Jewish poetry.
Judaism is a living religion constantly evolving as new Jewish scholars interpret these texts and oral traditions in new ways.
According to the New Testament, Jesus was a Jewish rabbi who taught a different version of Judaism than the two major factions of the day. His appeal was to those who felt left out by the two major factions of Judaism.
All of his disciples and all the authors of the books that make up the New Testament were Jewish. Not once in the New Testament does anyone identify themselves as Christian. When you read the history of the first few centuries of the followers of the rabbi Jesus, they were all Jewish.
Another interesting fact is that no where in the New Testament does Jesus or any of the other authors make the claim that he is/was God. No where in the Bible (Old or New Testament) does it state that there is a “Trinity”.
Jesus was just a Jewish rabbi carrying on a very long tradition.
A religion is a myth? Srsly?
I don’t think anybody referred to themselves as a Christian because most of the NT is epistles, letters to churches, and it was taken as a given.
Obviously the word was in use, else why would Peter urge people to not be ashamed if they suffered as a Christian? 1 Peter 4:16
I have a very slanted view of Christianity. I still call myself one. And your point is well taken and in fact in the formation of the church the very issue you speak of was deeply debated. Half of them interrupted Jesus just as that, a man, a blessed man sent by God with a message but in no way God himself or the Saviour. Well, due to modern day beliefs we all know who won that round. And as such is how the process began of which books to include and not include to cast him more in a God-like light rather than human. Personally, I am a little blurry there. I am more than comfortable saying Jesus is not God. Jesus should never be interpreted as God. Which is why Jesus is Lord stickers irk me a bit. And there are some Christian faiths that do preach the trinity as three separate entities. In simplistic terms, for me only, I just look at him as my lawyer in brokering with God..LOL. Where as he can deflect some of that wrath..heh. However, I’m not sure in it not saying he was the Saviour, after all he did say no one would enter the kingdom of God without believing in him. As well as he was the way and the light.
Great blog Sir!
Not sure whether you have read the book of Acts before (in the New Testament), but you might want to take a look at it because it contradicts a lot of the arguments you are making in this blog.
First off, it says in Acts 11:26 that they “were first called Christians in Antioch.” So the term itself is recorded in the Bible in that spot as well as 1 Peter 4:16 as Ingbert said above and in Acts 26:28 King Agrippa gives Paul a hard time for trying to convert him to be a “Christian.”
Acts 2:36 states “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” In 3:15 Jesus is referred to as the “author of life” and throughout the gospels he makes divine claims (even stating “before Abraham was born, I AM – which almost got him stoned since that is a direct reference to God calling himself I AM when speaking to Moses through the burning bush – John 8:58).
Also, in the book of Acts chapters 10-11 we are made aware that not all Christians were Jewish, but many were gentiles. That leads to chapter 15 in which they discuss which laws from the Hebrew scriptures should be kept by Christians and which to leave behind. Paul was considered the missionary to the Gentiles, and he was martyred around 64 AD, which would mean there were MANY first century Christians.