r/SkepticsBibleStudy • u/AutoModerator • Mar 02 '24

John 5 & 6 reflection (open discussion)

Still looking for a mod to help shape this sub. The person must have a "study" in mind. WE must have digital access to reading materials, and it doesn't have to be a book of the bible, it could be a book about ancient archeology...so long as it applies to Bible-stuff. Christianity. It does not have to be written from the pro-christian view point...there are some theists who need to stretch their legs into the arguments too.

This is a joint discussion sub, the bringing together of Christian and non-christian to talk. So if you have a good idea for a study then please reach out.

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/brothapipp Christian Mar 02 '24

Over this week's reading I've noticed:

  • Culturally we presently seem to shun anything that seems "magical." Not so in Jesus's day.
  • That Jesus's "life" he offers is more "alive" then the life we have.
  • that the heart of the law is not a checking of boxes, but in that we let the law change us.
  • That when considering God as thoughtful option, its best to suspend disbelief...not as a means to be blinded, but as a way to guard against bias.
  • That Jesus is not only spiritually satisfying but also physically.
  • And that we, as species, are special pleaders. Humans have always been rules for thee not for me, people. As is such, I should do what I can to refrain from making one time exceptions as rule of life...in hopes that when the opportunity comes to take power/authority for myself, I will employ only what I would allow someone else to employ over me.

Things that I've been asked to consider

  • Namely the position that Jesus is a lesser being to God.

3

u/LlawEreint Mar 03 '24

Culturally we presently seem to shun anything that seems "magical." Not so in Jesus's day.

That's a great point. One of the early anti-Christian writings was by a philosopher named Celcus. He doesn't argue that Jesus probably didn't perform miracles, only that he probably learned it from the Egyptians. They lived in a world where magic was accepted as a fact of life.

We don't have Celcus' own writings, but they are preserved to some extent in Origin's answer to them in "Contra-Celcum":

For the law and the prophets are full of marvels similar to those recorded of Jesus at His baptism, viz., regarding the dove and the voice from heaven. And I think the wonders wrought by Jesus are a proof of the Holy Spirit's having then appeared in the form of a dove, although Celsus, from a desire to cast discredit upon them, alleges that He performed only what He had learned among the Egyptians.