December 16, 2008
Ed Tubbs
Palm Springs, CA
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It’s all tied together.
The preface: While an atheist, I suspect I’ve more of an abiding love and admiration for Jesus of Nazareth than many, perhaps more than an overriding majority, of those who call themselves Christian.
This and the next paragraph are to be construed as parenthetical. All I know of the fellow derives from the reports in the gospels, Matthew through John. (Acts and the train of letters that follow are at best opinions that mirror the hopes — not some recitation of evidence — of the authors.) Regardless they are likely no more one hundred percent accurate than say, the tales of Robin Hood. After all, Mark, the gospel most proximate to the life of the narrative’s subject wasn’t composed until 50 AD, and modern forensic science is conclusive: accuracy of a witness’s account diminishes in direct correlation with the passage of time. Furthermore, of the four authors, only John was a member of the inner circle of disciples and a probable witness to much of what is reported, thus rendering the accuracy of the other three highly suspect.
I especially adore how Jesus’ humanness and humaneness, as depicted in the Parable of the Good Samaritan and the story of the accused adulteress, are as sabers to the hearts of doctrinaire ideologues everywhere, no matter their religion or lack of same, or where they’re located in time or place. Essentially they ask the most pertinent questions — questions that strike terror in the very souls of ideologues — that are just as relevant today as they ever might have been: 1.) Just how the hell can you be so sure you’re right about what you assert? and 2.) This really is about how you genuinely regard and treat others; not what you profess, but what your “works” testify to.
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It’s all tied together.
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