I moved this to the Religion forum because Freakyshiki keeps
crashing my Science and Philosophy forums.

I am discussing universal truth.

Freakyshiki said:


"Universal truth = JESUS. It really is simple."


*******************************

Here is my question:

What does

"Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the light.."

mean to you?


************

This thread is for sincere discussion, not for insults.

Jesus was a prophet. Nothing more and nothing less. He had a great idea. Unfortunately people worship the man and not live by his words where the wisdom was. Instead of keeping things simple People complicate them unrealistically and unnecessarily.

Jesus is NOT my savior. I am responsible for myself. People use Jesus to justify their sinfulness and likewise with Jesus "forgiving" them they take that as a sign to go ahead and live the life of a shitte head!

I knew this one clown who wore one of those "I Jesus" neckbands for holding Stage Passes and acted religious in front of everyone and also thought he was better than the rest of us but behind the scenes he was dealing Meth to friends of mine.

Jesus was not the reason I turned from Christianity, CHRISTIANS were the reason I turned from it and likewise the hypocrisy and lies wrapped up in the religion did it in for me.

And Freakyshiki is a hard core weird azzed Born Again Christian. Don't let him get to you. Zealots are all over the place. You can present real logic and he just dives into a theocratic tangent! A real Modern Day Thomas Aquinus! (NOT and I despised Thomas Aquinus's rhetoric which was viewed as a Beautification of God thorough Cyclical logic. Having had Critical Reasoning in College I found his arguments hollow and weak and fallacious like all get out!)

Jesus is alright with me. Organized churches is what I have the problem with and this is no insult.

means nothing to me

i know i'm but...

jeanniebean, if you feel that someone is violating a forum rule, you can let a mod know and the mod will review the complaint (at the top of every topic is a thread that lists the forum rules btw)

Jesus is our lord. He is whom instructs us, he is the deliverer of God's message, we are saved by the blood he spilled for us all on Calvery's hill. Jesus is love, Jesus is forgiveness, Jesus is pure.

He was a man that has had a great impact on society.

Whether or not you believe the stories his philosophy has stood the test of time.

When I hear people talk to me and use the term "Jesus" I usually relate that to their religious belief in a man they believe existed in the past (not sure when) and that some people claim to be the son of God.

Most people who talk about Jesus as a real person, believe him to be the son of God who died on a cross to pay for their sins. People who believe that, are considered to be Christians.

Others may acknowledge that such a man did actually exist, but they do not regard him as a God or as the son of a God. Some regard him as a prophet or teacher.

I personally do not believe this character was real. I think "Jesus" is a fictional character.


The second question I posed was:

What does the verse

"Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the light.."

mean to you?

I will post my viewpoint on that in my next post.

Jesus is whom will judge us. Jesus has given us the instructions to pass this judgment, he is the way. What he spoke of was the truth and nothing but the truth. He was not a "false prophet" or anything of such, he is the truth. In a dark area, evil is usually referred to as the dark side of life. Jesus is the light to light the way to the truth.

Well, to begin with, the very fact that the source itself merely claims, "Jesus Said", indicates to me that the quote may not be totally accurate. So to gain a better understanding of what Jesus might have actually said, assuming he existed at all, I look at the entire hearsay story.

When I do that, and I also step back and look at the surrounding human cultures of that time period, my ultimate conclusion is that Jesus was most likely a Jewish Mahayana Buddhist Bodhisattva and that what he most likely said was probably more along the lines of, "What I teach is the way, the truth, and the light".

I can see where this ideal could easily be misunderstood especially by authors who had convinced themselves that Jesus was some sort of messiah prophesied by the Torah. I looked into that as well, and like the Jews, I see no grounds for such a claim.

So in the larger picture of history and humanity I feel that Jesus was most likely a Jewish Mahayana Buddhist Bodhisattva. That just makes the most sense to me and doesn't require an endless myriad of contradictions to support.

So when I see the biblical quote, "Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the light..", I recognize that what Jesus most likely actually said was, "What I teach is the way, the truth, and the light".

Just my thoughts.

But Cowboy, if a person knew the way to safety or the way out of a cave, they would not say "I AM THE WAY." They would say, "Come, I know the way, follow me, I will show you."

Jesus may have even said that from time to time, but it does not mean the same as "I am the way." That statement has a different meaning.

Also, if a person spoke the truth, they would not say, "I AM THE TRUTH." They would say, "I speak the truth." Or "I am telling you the truth. They themselves cannot BE THE TRUTH.

Also, a man cannot say "I AM THE LIGHT" unless he actually glows in the dark. If he had a lantern, then he could say, "I have some light." But he cannot say "I am the light" unless that statement means something else.

These statements are metaphorical. You have to look at them that way.

I was taught this as a child and, in fact clear up to my young adult years. I actually looked into this in some depth to better understand it. When I did so I came away totally convinced that it is simply not a story that can be supported without also supporting huge unresolvable contradictions.

I wasn't taught that Isaac Newton also came to these same conclusions until I was well into my 30's and had already come to that very same conclusion from my own studies.



I personally feel that it's very likely that some guy taught against the moral values and directives that he been by the Torah. Instead he taught the moral values and behaviors that are supported by Buddhism, in fact Mahayana Buddhism specifically, which was a form of Buddhism that was at its peak at the time this man Jesus supposedly lived. I can imagine that he very well may have been crucified for his blaspheme against the Torah. And from that rumors could have easily grown to become what we now know as the "New Testament"

So I believe that some guy named Jesus or Yahshua, or whatever very well may have existed and taught against the moral behavior and directives of the Torah just as the authors of the New Testament claim. But I think their conclusions that he was the son of the God of the Torah is incorrect.



I don't discount that possibility as well. However, like I say, the idea that Jesus was a misunderstood Mahayana Buddhist Bodhisattva actually fits this story so well that it currently seems more plausible to me.

I absolutely agree with Jeannie, even if he did use words along the lines of what is actually written in the Bible, it would have still necessarily been a metaphor. So either way it reduces to:

"I teach the way, I teach the truth, I show you the light."

This is the only thing that makes any sense as Jeannie points out.

Nice explanation Jeannie.

"Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the light.."

If the statement was stated by a man who was channeling his inner spirit or some higher intelligence like God, (be it Jesus or any other man) then the statement takes on more meaning.

So lets assume that Jesus or Howard or anyone was channeling God or speaking from their own inner spiritual awareness. Then what does the statement mean, coming from God or some spiritual connection to God?

Remember, the actual person was not talking about himself. He was speaking as spirit or God, source of all life. So if Jesus did say this, he was not talking about himself, the man. He was talking about God, the source of all life.

"I am the way." (This inner spirit, this inner connection to the source is the way.)

"I am the truth." (This inner spirit, this inner connection to the divine self... is the truth -- of who you are.)

"I am the light" (This inner spark that is life is the light that illuminates the world. It is life and it is within you.)


I believe that when a person listens carefully, they can hear that inner spark in their own personal being.

I am glad and have seen you post the same thing before that you believe Yahshua was something special. JC is not Abra thats where your studying ended. even on here watch as some will use is name for an instant then back to the old ways. they want to believe in tradition.. actually you remind me of the Roman soldier who did not have the Jewish belief of the scriptures at all. but when he saw probally what was happening he believe Yahshua was something special as with the story.

Gen 1:1 - Matt 8:13

Now when Yahshua had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, 6 saying, "Master, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented."

7 And Yahshua said to him, "I will come and heal him."

8 The centurion answered and said, "Master, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

10 When Yahshua heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I have not FOUND such great FAITH, not even in ISRAEL ! 11 And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 Then Yahshua said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you." And his servant was healed that same hour.
NKJV


Oh don't you know Yahshua was HATED for saying this about a unbeliever. a Pagan Roman soldier has more faith than all of ISRAEL.

He saw and understood that this man did not need to be with him to heal his child all he had to do was give his Blessing and it would be.
The time is coming when you will see the 2 witnesses Abra and this will come to mind and you may be the greatest witness of him of all.. who knows.. but you truely understand this concept. but its thier.. Blessings of Shalom...Miles

I just wanted to say what God / Jesus. Means to me...

" The light in my darkest of hours "



Jason....

The same can be said for any person that supposedly lived 2000 years ago.

Kinda hard to prove any of them aren't fiction.

Kinda hard to prove they didn't exist either.

As for the second question I am not religious so no need for me to respond to it.

Again, I agree. Viewing Jesus as an enlightened Buddhist speaking from his ultimate spiritual essence this again makes perfect sense.

But in that case, he not referring to his physical body, (i.e. the person of Jesus). He's referring to the spiritual essence of all of us.

This is why many of the things that have been attributed to him make perfect sense when it is realized that he is speaking from the Eastern Mystical point of view. And not as an individual who is the "only" begotten son of some personified Godhead from old religious tales, tales that Jesus himself did not even agree with in spirit.

I think it is an extension of the first scripture of John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

and a qualifier for what he says next

No one comes to the Father except through me



IN the beginning was the word ......at the start it was already decided what the ideal design is

the word was with God, ,,,,,,,,,It was design belonging to God

the word was God, ,,,,,,,,It was designed in God image


Jesus, to me, is the flesh extension of that design (the truth)
Jesus , to me, is the only path to God (the way)
Jesus, to me, was sent to shine light on that path (the light)

Not necessarily true, as there are records of some of the people who actually lived back in that same time, records that do not solely depend on a single scripture.



There are some characters back in that time (and before) that are definitely accepted as having actually lived. Jesus is not one of them.

Yes it is difficult to prove anything or anyone "didn't" exist. But that is not usually a problem unless you are asked to believe that they did.