Well, I would suggest that the founders' intentions were political. Christianity is the faith I know best, so I will use them as an example: If you believe there WAS a person named Christ, and he DID say what's in the NT, then you would tend to believe that what he said and did was all about salvation.
But I don't believe that. The people who wrote his words (the true founders?) couldn't have even witnessed Christ if he existed, and
you can tell from the way they told the story something about what their background was, how they felt about Christ's divinity, exactly who they were speaking to, and what they wanted for the Jewish diaspora or nascent Christian churches. And all of that makes what they (Paul, John, Luke, etc.) did extremely political. They assumed the mantle of legitimacy given to them by the existent, institutionalized Jewish faith, and told new stories, or emphasized old ones, to achieve their political objectives. And in that sense the early Muslims, early Mormons, even David Koresh, were no different.

If I was supposed to assume, for the purposes of the discussion, that, e.g., there was a guy named Christ who said all those things, then I guess I missed the point.

Dr. Wu, perhaps you fail to understand us.

In what sense is the founder of a spiritual path the founder of a religion? This may not be as direct a connection as it may appear. Perhaps we should regard Paul, not Jesus, as the true founder of the Christian religion, since Paul seemed to be more concerned with developing religious institutions.

But even if Jesus existed, wasn't he supposed to have started his Church with Peter? These words may have simply been put in his mouth by later Christians seeking divine justification for their Church, but if Jesus had existed and had actually established a Church, then perhaps this is one founder of a religion who was concerned with "external" things such as doctrines and institutions.

apm

So for you, founder(s) of chritianity were those other chaps...not the jesus chap?

yes.

This is like asking, "Is the snake oil salesman the founder of healing?"

Only the self can heal the self. Everything else is exploitation, misdirection, aggrandizement and profiteering.

Only the self can heal the self, but that doesn't mean others can't show us the door.

Only the self can heal the self? Might as well try to pull yourself up by your bootstraps...

Only the self can heal the self?

Doesn't penicillin help from time to time?

As The Fonz would say,"Correctimundi."

You are confusing those that had the vision of the Way with those that started the instituition. Don't focus on Jesus..he was one of many who have had 'cosmic consciousness.'

namaste,