Lebell

I'll give it a go with the caveaut that these are the views of a fairly liberal ex-Catholic, now Episcopalian who's made it a hobby to study world religions...

Ah, good question!

So the "kingdom" is obviously something else. To me, it is what is inside of me, what I carry around. The flip side of this is that some people carry their own hell around with them. Many people know someone like this, but they tend to ignore the former, unless he/she becomes very far advanced along their spiritual path, people like the Dalai Lama, Oscar Romero, Mother Teresa, Deitrich Bonhoeffer, etc.

This theme is common in many religions, which to me at least, adds to it's veracity.

Well, if you are a Kevin Smith/Dogma fan, it's because the churches hid the material because it was embarassing.

But conspiracy theories aside, no one knows. We can guess though. Perhaps it is as simple as that there is nothing to report. Remember that the Gospels were written down years after the fact, from memories and stories that the followers of Jesus told to each other.

Well, you can be a strict literalist and have the reason be because God wrote the stories through the writers, or, like me, you can rely on modern Biblical scholarship.

You might enjoy a book called, "Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time", by Dr. Marcus Borg, who is also an active member of the Jesus Seminar. The Jesus Seminar (TJS) spends much of it's time debating this very question with some interesting answers.

Another book I've recommended before is by Bishop John Spong, "Liberating the Gospels : Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes". The main premise of this book being that the way the ancient Hebrews told stories was NOT the way Westerners do today.


Again, no one knows.

Some have suggested that the miracles of Jesus could be explained in other ways, such as the feeding of the 5000 being really a story about sharing food among strangers.

Others reject this and go for the literal (I fall somewhere between). But there was obviously something powerful going on, since the stories survived.

Part of a Christain's faith journey is struggling to understand these mysteries, because struggle is what makes people grow.

Hotly debated, especially among groups like TJS, not so among others, as wether or not he made this claim. But the sine qua non of a Christian is that Jesus was actually God AND human FULLY AND COMPLETELY.

This takes alot of work to get one's mind around and I personally don't think we are capable of understanding all it's implications.

That doesn't stop us from trying however

Some of my own conclusions based on this belief:

-Jesus knew, really knew about all the agony and suffering (mentally, spiritually and physically) that is inherent to being human

-Being the "Son of God" and the "Son of Man" (both terms are used) implicitly makes us also "Sons and Daughter's of God". Further, that means that God is in everyone of us, and it is our purpose to discover the Godhead inside of us. And FURTHER, to recognize and acknowledge the Godhead inside of our fellow human beings.


Again, only speaking for myself, there is no offense taken.

Anyone who cannot stand questions and/or criticism of their faith has a weak faith indeed, IMHO.

Peace!

__________________
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis

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