What Jesus is "reported" (by later followers, two decades or more after-the-fact) may be very little like what he actually said. There's some inference that can be drawn by agreement from the older sources about stuff like the Sermon on the Mount, but most of it seems to have formed (and grown vastly) in the decades after his death. By the time you get to the Gospel of John, almost 70 years later, the story is MUCH more miracle-filled, and the claims made so much more strident for the whole Jesus-as-God thing, that people call the first three the "synoptic gospels" (meaning "with one eye-view") and place John outside of it.
If you don't believe me, Google a list of the "miracles" they claim Jesus did in each of the books, in the order they were published: Mark, Matthew, Luke, then John, and keep track of the increasing claims of miracles and other wonderous signs performed.
The legend grew, and the signs are as plain as day, the moment you stop thinking of the Bible as emerging all-at-once in intact, modern form. The books we know as the New Testament weren't assembled until 300 years after Jesus' death... literally longer than the United States has been a country, by a fair margin.
If you don't believe me, Google a list of the "miracles" they claim Jesus did in each of the books, in the order they were published: Mark, Matthew, Luke, then John, and keep track of the increasing claims of miracles and other wonderous signs performed.
The legend grew, and the signs are as plain as day, the moment you stop thinking of the Bible as emerging all-at-once in intact, modern form. The books we know as the New Testament weren't assembled until 300 years after Jesus' death... literally longer than the United States has been a country, by a fair margin.
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
