Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Chaupoline · 07-12-2008, 08:50 PM

The author was not interested in disputing if Jesus existed. Instead he wanted to change Christology to reflect his views. He believed that Jesus was not a sacrifice for the sins of humanity as current Christology maintains. His view is that Christ was a sacrifice to unite the Jewish people. The Gabriel revelation would not show that Jesus came a hundred years earlier than believed. It would just show that there was a prophecy a 100 years prior to Jesus.

Alesiah · 07-13-2008, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Gehenna is fairly well defined in rabbinic literature. It is sometimes translated as "hell", but Jews must take note that the Christian version of hell is different from the Jewish view of Gehenna. Some Christians believe that hell is an abode of eternal torment where sinners go, and is also for anyone who does not accept Jesus as their messiah and G-d. Other Christians believe Hell is a place of separation from G-d (which, for Christians, is torture enough), from which believers are eventually saved by Jesus. Roman Catholics believe that Hell is a place of eternal suffering—physical, mental and spiritual suffering. In the Roman Catholic view of Hell, the physical pain is constant and severe; but the worst torture of Hell is the knowledge that they will never see G-d and that they will remain in Hell for eternity. For Roman Catholics, Hell is permanent and eternal. For Roman Catholics, the soul that has deliberately and knowingly disobeyed G-d's commandments in life and that remains in a state of mortal sin upon death has through it's own free will damned itself to Hell for all eternity. Roman Catholics also have the notion of Purgatory, which is for souls that are truly repentant, but not in the state of grace upon death. Purgatory is similar to Hell in that there is physical suffering, the Roman Catholic belief is that the soul will return to G-d when it is purged of its sins. Purgatory can last a day or thousands of years depending on the amount of purging the individual soul requires.

However, for Jews, gehenna—while certainly a terribly unpleasant place—is not hell. The majority of rabbinic thought maintains that people are not tortured in hell forever; the longest that one can be there is said to be 12 months. It is a spiritual forge where the soul is purified for its eventual ascent to Gan Eden [Heaven], and where all imperfections are purged. [In this sense, it is somewhat similar to the Roman Catholic purgatory, however the time period has a definate maximum]. Gehennom (lit: the valley of Hinnom, in Jerusalem; i.e. hell) is the sinner's experience in the afterlife. In other words, it's the same "place" as gan eiden (lit: the garden of Eden; i.e. heaven) — it's the perspective of the individual that makes it one or the other.

http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq...faq/12-08.html

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07-12-2008, 08:50 PM	#11
Chaupoline Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: USA Posts: 1,441	The author was not interested in disputing if Jesus existed. Instead he wanted to change Christology to reflect his views. He believed that Jesus was not a sacrifice for the sins of humanity as current Christology maintains. His view is that Christ was a sacrifice to unite the Jewish people. The Gabriel revelation would not show that Jesus came a hundred years earlier than believed. It would just show that there was a prophecy a 100 years prior to Jesus.

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