Would Jesus honestly recgonize his Church today?

[ShotoManhattan]

Hi, it's been a while since I posted. I came back to this forum because I wanted to. There was something that came into my mind. Do you think Jesus would honestly recognize his own church today?

 

I don't think he would. He would see good things in all of the churches, but wonder why there are so many denominations. He might see the Catholic Church as being the church Peter was meant to run, but would probably drive out all of the child molesters in that place and see how the Church was used in War time. He might see the Evangelical Fundamentalists as worshiping him but would also be appalled at the mega churches built with businesses inside of them and the prosperity gospel.

 

I don't think most Christians would recognize him. Most of the Western art depicts him as a white guy with brown hair when in reality he would look Middle Eastern and would be mistaken for a terrorist by American Evangelicals.

 

These are just my thoughts, what do you guys think?

[Bhim]

The Christian religion is definitely a transmogrified version of what you see in the gospels. But it is - in my opinion - to ascribe pure motives to Jesus. Among other things, the Jesus of the gospels tells you that you go to eternal hell for the slightest of infractions of the rules he invented on the spot, he engages in the cult-like behavior of stealing young men from their families so that they can join his rogue group of followers, and he lives off the generosity of wealthy women. Even if the church were faithful to the Bible, it would be just as bad of a religion. Maybe worse.

[◊ Weezer ◊]

On 9/3/2019 at 9:15 PM, ShotoManhattan said:

 

These are just my thoughts, what do you guys think?

 

I don't entirely agree with Bhim.  I studied the life and teaching of Jesus, and one problem with speculating about Jesus is that, due to the Catholic church distorting and probably fabricating some information,  we don't know the whole story.  I think they made him into who they wanted him to be, if he in fact did exist.

 

After reading the Gnostic Gospels, which they tried to destroy, I decided he possibly existed.  When you look at the core of his reported teaching, the basic message was another version of the golden rule.  A simple and valid teaching in my way of thinking.  If you can believe the story about him, he likely believed he was the messiah because he was programed to think that way.  I believe he intended his "church" to carry a simple message.  Love god, and neighbor as self.  All the pomp, rituals, rules, etc were added by the church later.

 

Considering the context of his time and situation, if he existed, I came to respect the man.

[Moonobserver]

On 9/3/2019 at 7:15 PM, ShotoManhattan said:

Most of the Western art depicts him as a white guy with brown hair when in reality he would look Middle Eastern and would be mistaken for a terrorist by American Evangelicals.

 

 

.....until they found out he was Jewish; then they would want to convert him to Christianity (THEIR Christianity).

[florduh]

According to the story, the Jesus character never founded any physical church, nor did he direct anyone to build the tax exempt empires in his name.

 

 I submit that none of the churches or denominations at any period would have been recognizable to Jesus as something he endorsed.

[FightingTriton]

If Jesus as we know him came today, he would be EXTREMELY disappointed.

 

For starters, he would be disappointed in the church for their lack of actual love & kindness shown to others in favor of religious bias. He would question why churches would rather put up steel bars & security cameras to keep the homeless out, and question why the building is only used to glorify him rather than spread his "love."

 

Jesus would be disappointed in the preachers, ESPECIALLY TELEVANGELISTS. He would call Joel Osteen & Creflo Dollar hypocrites, he would criticise Joyce Meyer, and he would absolutely abhor Benny Hinn & Jimmy Swaggart...and most likely he wouldn't even address Jim Bakker, and would probably criticise anyone who still believed he was a real Christian.

 

Jesus would be disappointed in regular churchgoers, for their holier than thou attitude, and for their hypocrisy. It's been said that going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage doesn't make you a car. Jesus would criticise overweight Christians for their gluttony, criticise promiscuous Christian women for their attire and criticise the far-right Christians for their vengeful attitude towards others.

 

Would jesus be mad at atheists? Maybe. But I doubt he could blame them. Especially since his representation since his execution hasn't exactly been a shining beacon for what he represents.

 

There's only 2 people I think Jesus would look at and say "You're OK" and that would've been Fred Rogers & Bob Ross....and sadly they're both dead.

 

[sdelsolray]

Christianity, as well as many other religions, has always been composed of numerous sects, often competing with each other and often developing dogma and beliefs which reject or ignore earlier dogma and beliefs.  Humans invented and control the dogma and beliefs, as well as the changes in them over time.  As much as Jesus hypothetically would have rejected certain dogma and beliefs of some modern Christian sects, those same modern Christian sects demonstrate they reject the mythological dogma and beliefs of Jesus.