Changes

Daniel (Bill): Thank you, Virginia, for your words. I would like to comment on them briefly. It is very instructive to know that from your own [[experience]] as a parent the doctrine of [[atonement]] no longer made sense to you. [[Jesus]] also had this [[experience]] when, as a 12 year old, [[125:1 Jesus View the Temple|he observed the slaughter of the animals in the temple]] at Jerusalem. He could not imagine that his heavenly Father was such a wrathful Being that He required the [[sacrifice]] of these animals, their blood, to wash away sin. And he told his father, Joseph, "You would not treat me in such a wrathful [[manner]]. I cannot believe that the God who made you and me (these are not his exact words) is a lesser Being ethically, morally. It cannot be so, father". Joseph could not reply to the [[wisdom]] of his son, [[Jesus]]. So you have had the same [[experience]].

Daniel (Bill): Thank you, Virginia, for your words. I would like to comment on them briefly. It is very instructive to know that from your own [[experience]] as a parent the doctrine of [[atonement]] no longer made sense to you. [[Jesus]] also had this [[experience]] when, as a 12 year old, [[125:1 Jesus View the Temple|he observed the slaughter of the animals in the temple]] at Jerusalem. He could not imagine that his heavenly Father was such a wrathful Being that He required the [[sacrifice]] of these animals, their blood, to wash away sin. And he told his father, Joseph, "You would not treat me in such a wrathful [[manner]]. I cannot believe that the God who made you and me (these are not his exact words) is a lesser Being ethically, morally. It cannot be so, father". Joseph could not reply to the [[wisdom]] of his son, [[Jesus]]. So you have had the same [[experience]].

I am responding to the [[anxiety]] on the part of my [[TR]] that I need to soften my words, as he sees it, against [[Christianity]], and so I will add these comments. The doctrine of [[atonement]] as taught by [[Paul, the Apostle|Paul]], and put forth in the [[New Testament]], was certainly an advance over the [[primitive]] idea of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sacrifice animal sacrifice]. It was also an attempt on the part of Paul to connect his [[understanding]] of [[Jesus]], the Christ, with his [[heritage]] as a [[Jew]], as a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and to persuade his fellows, within the understanding of their minds, that an absolute perfect [[sacrifice]] had been accomplished so that they did not need to persist in the legalistic sacrificial procedures. At the same time that Paul believed these things he experienced his own sonship with God. Since he was an [[intelligent]] man, one who could not simply [[abandon]] the [[theology]] of his up-bringing, he attempted to explain how the [[chosen people]] were to be expanded, beyond the [[Jews]], to include all believers in Jesus. Remember that Paul was not one of the [[Apostles]] who walked on the dusty roads of [[Palestine]] with [[the Master]]. He was one who knew him in Spirit after he was confronted on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_to_Damascus road to Damascus]. The teachings that Jesus gave, which are represented in the Gospels of the [[New Testament]], were clearly those that I have already alluded to. [[Scholars]] say that any words that were attributed to Jesus speaking of himself as a sacrifice were clearly the early church's [[interpretation]] fed back into the words of Jesus. So, I am saying that [[Christianity]] was an evolutionary improvement over the highest understanding of God that existed at the time, which was the Hebrew understanding of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah Isaiah], but, in a sense, it is unfortunate that the Gospel of [[Jesus]], as he preached it, sonship with God and our brotherhood and sisterhood, was confined to the social circle of the Jesus fellowship, later named, the Christians. Now, this is the time when this Gospel, as [[Jesus]] preached it, shall be preached as it was preached; shall be understood. It is time to get past the unbrotherhood of man, and be [[transformed]] by our understanding of our place in the [[family of God]].

I am responding to the [[anxiety]] on the part of my [[TR]] that I need to soften my words, as he sees it, against [[Christianity]], and so I will add these comments. The doctrine of [[atonement]] as taught by [[Paul, the Apostle|Paul]], and put forth in the [[New Testament]], was certainly an advance over the [[primitive]] idea of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sacrifice animal sacrifice]. It was also an attempt on the part of Paul to connect his [[understanding]] of [[Jesus]], the Christ, with his [[heritage]] as a [[Jew]], as a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and to persuade his fellows, within the understanding of their minds, that an absolute perfect [[sacrifice]] had been accomplished so that they did not need to persist in the legalistic sacrificial procedures. At the same time that Paul believed these things he experienced his own sonship with God. Since he was an [[intelligent]] man, one who could not simply [[abandon]] the [[theology]] of his up-bringing, he attempted to explain how the [[chosen people]] were to be expanded, beyond the [[Jews]], to include all believers in Jesus. Remember that Paul was not one of the [[Apostles]] who walked on the dusty roads of [[Palestine]] with [[the Master]]. He was one who knew him in Spirit after he was confronted on the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_to_Damascus road to Damascus]. The teachings that Jesus gave, which are represented in the Gospels of the [[New Testament]], were clearly those that I have already alluded to. [[Scholars]] say that any words that were attributed to Jesus speaking of himself as a sacrifice were clearly the early church's [[interpretation]] fed back into the words of Jesus. So, I am saying that [[Christianity]] was an evolutionary improvement over the highest understanding of God that existed at the time, which was the Hebrew understanding of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaiah Isaiah], but, in a sense, it is unfortunate that the Gospel of [[Jesus]], as he preached it, sonship with God and our brotherhood and sisterhood, was confined to the social circle of the Jesus fellowship, later named, the Christians. Now, this is the time when this Gospel, as [[Jesus]] preached it, shall be preached as it was preached; shall be understood. It is time to get past the unbrotherhood of man, and be [[transformed]] by our understanding of our place in the [[family of God]].

Thank you again, Virginia, for offering your [[experience]] with your own [[faith]] [[development]]. Others?

Thank you again, Virginia, for offering your [[experience]] with your own [[faith]] [[development]]. Others?