The Existence of Jesus Christ

I am a man who likes to respect all scriptures but many doubts have been created as I read the New Testament part of the Bible. They basically pertain to the claims that have been made by the apostles. What I am going to say should not be taken as criticism but an effort to clarify my mind.One of the things that stikes on reading the New Testament is the zeal with which Jesus heals people and revives the dead. As per Christian belief he is the Messiah forecast in the Old Testament. When he is asked, by men sent by John, if he is the Messiah, he replies "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached" (Luke 7:22). Is that all for which Jesus assumed the ministry? What any student of spirituality would like to see in a preceptor is how he takes the people towards God. I am not saying there is anything wrong with his teachings. I hold the belief that any person who flaunts supernatural powers drifts away from God. I request clarification on two things recorded in the Bible. Firstly is this statement by Jesus "Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me" (Luke 8:46). Secondly when some people mocked at him, after his crucifixion he lamented "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me"Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34). If the gospel is the word of God, jesus had been forsaken by God. Is this true?I request that comments may please br given objectively. Let them neither be based on any obscure ideas nor undue criticism. Hoping for a meaningful dialogue.

Thanks. The meaning of Jesus' statement saying that virtue had gone out of him has not been given. It appears that in his later days Jesus had started getting impatient as is clear from Matthew 17:17. Also he had started making rather harsh statements like "A wicked and adulterous generation---"Matthew 16:4. He also cursed the fig tree as it did not have fruit Matthew21:19. Are these indications of his having a feeling of insecurity?Matthew 26:38 also indicates the same state when he says "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful". It is true that Jesus had said more than once that he drew power from God, but there are many statements where he indicated he was the Lord, like the Alpha and omega statement in Revelation. It is suggested that the issue of loss of virtue may be dealt with before the other issue of Jesus being forsaken by God is taken up which may be later.

Are we not skirtikg the real issues? You have saidJesus was exalted to the right hand of God the Father and given Lord position in the Godhead only after He completed His mission on the cross (Acts 2:32-36).Jesus had called himself the Lord even earlier. kindly refer to Matthew 21:3. Even his 12 disciples had been given the powers normally believed to be vested in God. I wish to clarify that I have only quoted the Bible to seek the background to the statements. There is a pattern in the various quotations given by me and not just one statement that it may be thought to be out of context. I am glad to be in dialogue with a learned Christian and hope that as we proceed the misgivings, normally expressed by people, about the accuracy of the scripture, will be removed. It may please be taken in that spirit. Let us therefore take the issues head on. Incidently what does "Many disiples of Jesus no loger walked with Jesus after he said these words" mean?God BlessThis message has been edited by Rawel Singh, 03-16-2006 10:52 AM

The real issues have still not been addressed. What has been givn now are dogmas which have really been responsible for creating the doubts. It may please be appreciated that Acts and letters are efforts to convince people about the new religion by showing how big Jesus was. These were not ordained by God. It appears that efforts like this have brought in dogmas. As I look at it Jesus was the son of God as we all are. However he had a special position because he was anointed by God. He has liked himself as the son of man. The agerrations in the gospels seem to have come in due to overenthusism of those who wrote them after Jesus had left the earth. It appears to me that Jesus would never have approved of these. His refrain throughout was that he had come to fulfill the scriptures. The Gospels themselves still have statements that indicate his humility. For example Jesus refused to perform miacle when he was tempted to do so, Watthew 4:3-4, or asked people not to say he was good. Even when he performed miracles ,he asked people no to tell others. It appears we are going off the original questions . Let us please address them.God Bless

I am sorry if I have given the impression that I was giving my position regarding the truthfulness of the Bible. I am only seeking clarifications on doubts. Regarding reading the scriptures as in John 5:39-40, and following up with John 5:41-42, I feel John 1 gives me a clearer idea whereby the Word or scripture is God; in other words the scripture must covey what God says and not exalt Jesus to equate with God and at the same time say he draws power from God. Matthew 4:10 confirms this thus "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve".As far as eternal life is concerned, I believe in the eternity of the soul, which alone is real life as per Genesis 2:7. The body made of dust was not life, the soul was breathed in by God. The soul does not die, because it came from God's breath; the body without soul is just dust. Here again a dogma is mentioned that both body and soul are eternal. In this regard disappearnce of Jesus' body from the tomb is mentioned. If one goes over this , which is quoted as the basis of Christianity, wide variations are seenin the account given by the four gospels, which gives the impression, and indeed which many people have stated, that the gospels are not eye witness accounts but rather hearsay. PLease do not dismiss it but explain the differences. The most glaring doubt is on fundamentals. It is stated that Jesus was seen walking on the earth and met may people before he met his disciples. This is at complete variance with Matthew 22:30, wherein it is said by Jesus that on resurrection they are angels of God in heaven. Angels do not walk on the earth; if ever they come to the earth it is for a psrticular task. They do it and go back. Many such examples exist in the Bible.If you still feel that I am only picking holes, kidly do not reply to this, but I hope you will confront the issues dirctly as given initially and as we have proceeded, particularly the humility displayed by Jesus.God BlessThis message has been edited by Rawel Singh, 03-17-2006 10:24 AM

Dear Phat,
The question has not been answered but just dismissed. Kindly appreciate that the Western world of which Christianity is the major part are an educated lot. Such questions are genuine and should not be summarily dismissed. Let me clarify that I am not Christian, but believe that if everybbody follows his or her religion, the world will be better place. I did my bit in this ragard for all religions including Christianity. In appreciation of this the Church of North India where I was then, published a piece recogniizing my services in their making more friends. We had a small chapel where the Bishop came and conducted a service. This was in 1973/74.Let me make an attempt to understand what walking with Jesus means. It probably means that many people could not subject themselves to the discipline that Jesus demanded in life and dissocieted from him. This is not unusual. It happens every where when people give more importance to the benedictions of God than to the One who has bestowed those.I am unable to agree that we do not have to dig into the scriptures. Pray, they are the only authentic source of divine knowledge. We all know that some times we do things which we realize later were wrong. If we read the scripyures regularly we are kept reminded of what is right and what is not. Let us value this tresure.God Bless

The reply to the first part seems to have been given without reading my post carefully. It is not the teacher for whom things became demanding but the students were not ready for it and left.As far as the second part is concerned we may just consider the way the religious thought has evolved. It started with the beliefs in ghosts and spirits; the only aspect of faith then was fear. That is why the main emphasis was on propitiating the deities. People then had individual, family and community deities. As the intellect and communications developed community worships of deities started. With further development and as the world started getting closer due to communications the communities became bigger and the concept of God developed and wlth education the holy masters who have been there in all ages put their teachings in writing. We now believe that there is only one God for the whole universe. The belief now is Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of mankind.This is what the religion of the present scientific age is or will be. This will not mean doing away with the present religions but identifying what is common. There is plenty in all the scriptures on this. What was earlier given orally or got established by legend was put in writing. So the concept of scriptures is not new, the form is.

I am sorrry the questions are not answered as asked. I have given Biblical references but the questions have been skirted; why not take them on headlong as asked.Could please under which topic thread should the question be asked?God Bless