(new) topics/theologichistory.htm :These pages and the various schools of theology:
With the help of the Greek language and their learnedness they were able to make early Christian traditions much clearer for Europeans...
Until now, problems between fundamentalism and relativism have dominated the discussion.
Apart from that, the so called "Jesus disclosure stories" outside of theological circles over the last few years have been detrimental to the present discussion.

...In the "mystical theology" of today's Orthodox Churches some of it is well preserved.
- argument, counter-argument and conclusions -
*** (...) See Hans Küng, Christianity. Essence, History, Future for a study of the development of Christianity. He attempts an integrated research that accepts the contents of the Scriptures as a contextual source, in spite of archaeology and critical theological research, which gives some Christians and Jews pause for thought. (We don’t accept all the consequences resulting from the historico-critical research. For instance, some events surrounding Jesus appear largely to be only subjective experiences. However, Küng is open to an open, not yet explored kind of reality of such experiences. His interesting method of exploring steps in the development of Christianity in general (paradigms), cannot sufficiently recognize the significance of directions like the Mystics, which generally speaking, were never crucial until now. They have unearthed methods, which are very important for grasping the full potential of Christianity.

****** Jesus, the disciples and theology.

There are "theologies" within the New Testament. But the writers must have combined it consciously. They felt for the fact, that Jesus has had many "sides". One needs several theological viewpoints to understand him.
He taught the social awareness of liberal or liberation theology too – and he taught the strict (individual) ethical guidelines of rather conservative theologians (but not formal and not based on the power of the state.)
He also had the spiritual attitude of Christian mystics or esoteric Christians (compare the mystical theology of the eastern Orthodox Church) - and, nevertheless, he wanted the Disciples to manage their life in the physical world (which is the main topic of most current theologians and missions, especially the Protestant ones).
Jesus showed a "supernatural" relation to God, (from baptism up to the Cross & Resurrection, noticed for instance in the meditative review of John the Disciple and his Disciples.); that can not be explained by the intellectual consciousness of theologians like Bultmann – nevertheless Jesus had to go through human stages of life, which are understood by natural sciences.
Some incidents can be understood by deep psychology of our time, some are spiritual beyond psychology.
Many viewpoints are almost lost, since big parts of the original Early Christianity were persecuted as "heretic", (becoming mixed with real misuses of Religion.) They all were one-sided, but not more one-sided than any existing church.
This one-sidedness is not automatically negative. The constructive parts of all that attempts would be o.k.- if they would not think, that they are the only ones who are right, and that the other ones would be completely wrong.

In topics/meditation.htm:
Bible Study, i.e. reading and working through the texts and their meanings, is only one method. During the study of the Gospels the chapters of the main text of "ways-of-christ.net" and, last but not least, God can contribute to a deeper understanding. Anyone who is more closely interested in a holistic approach - including the neglected parts of our soul - can read and meditate on the chapter, e.g. of  the Gospel of John and then study the chapter of the main text of "ways-of-christ.net".
It would be possible too, to include the manifold pictures and symbols in old churches (buildings).
Even those, who - seeking inner experiences - took the useless and dangerous path of drugs, could instead of this find a fullfilling experience in meditation.

The Bogumiles and the Catharians were partially similar, but were one-sidedly withdrawing from the world.
c.) 0. An important basis is the mutual view of baptism as a sacrament. During the Second Vatican Council of the Catholic Church in 1962 there was some opening for the ecumenical movement. It was accepted that elements like the Word of God, living mercy, hope, love and the gifts of the Holy Spirit - both invisible and visible elements - exist beyond the Catholic Church too and that sanctification and redemption are possible in other Churches too. But still the Catholic Church saw themselves as the only complete Church.
(in 2.) Jesus told St. Peter to take care of his "lambs" and "sheep".(John 21). However, Jesus did not assign the other Disciples and their circles to Peter, but the existing main stream of Christians. E.g. John had his own Churches in Asia (see above), Paul looked for many communities, etc. So the question iarises of what it might mean today that a successor of St. Peter "puts sheep out to pasture". ... If the Churches unite, they would surely choose a mutual leader.

4. The adoration of Mary as known in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches is not practised in protestant Churches, but this is not looked upon as a main obstruction to more unity. The Second Vatican Council accepted that in liturgical questions there may be beneficial differences, according to the mentality of the believers. We know, e.g. of the endeavours of a pastor in the fifties and sixties who tried to re-establish some kind of Mary worship in a protestant Church.

(After 7.) Indeed it would be possible for the churches to come closer to each other in a real ecumenical community, instead of tormenting* Christ with their delimitations. This should be done indeed "with sensitivity and consideration for each other, in patience and with courage, holding ther truth in reverence" (as John Paul II named it). Nevertheless, today one can already experience the "general" Church in the spirit of Jesus Christ, consisting of all those who follow Christ in their own way and endeavour "to do the will of the Father"; -no matter, what Churches they belong to, or whether or not they are members of any Church at all, or whether they necessarily use the term Christianity all the time. This is a basis for the "Ways of Christ" website. This kind of experience does not replace approaches to visible unity. However, this unity must be really attempted; a signature on paper would not be sufficient.

*) Churches like the Catholic one might get some inspiration from the related messages of Christ by the Orthodox Christian Vassula Ryden, "The true life in God", vol. 1. The Catholic Church looks at such writings as "private inspirations". However, the content is often more than just interesting for the person concerned. (This website only mentions literature as additional information and our insights are independent of it.)
"Jesus help us to reduce the prejudices between Christian communities, that the Holy Spirit can work better through them."

(new) topics/inspiration.htm
- However, it is possible to pray for receiving the Holy Spirit.
- Some Protestant Churches think, revelation has come to an end in the time of the New Testament. On the other hand there are many phenomena like this outside the big churches, cf. John 14:21-23.
- If someone studies such phenomena in Christianity without prejudices, he/she may first notice, that in most cases the attempted explanations like autosuggestion, mass suggestion, schizophrenia are not sufficient. Then the really interesting questions can start...
The human being has its own conscience, which is not a matter of conditioning.
- Criteria like the "supernatural character" have been investigated often: for instance concomitant phenomena like lacking the eye's reflex, a changed heart beat, the pulse slowed down, a higher blood pressure - without manipulations or drugs -; or that the person could not know what has been revealed. But that criterion is not necessary, because the Spirit can use the "natural" abilities of man too.

- "...That You live like human beings and fulfil Your daily duties, but also properly leave room for God the almighty father  in Your daily life." (From messages of Mother Mary to the seers at Garabandal and elesewhere).
(Consciously seeking the Spirit of God is spirituality, and seeking contacts to ghosts in trance is named spirit(ual)ism.)

In topics/ethics.htm:
*) Particularly here the various religions have added many different details. This might help us to understand that not all details are necessarily good for everyone. Additionally - for today's purposes - there has not always been enough distinction between purely religious principles and detailed secular laws. This doesn't mean, however, that beliefs and laws should have big contradictions.
Matthew 7:1-5
(Gal. 6:7; 2. Cor. 9:6)
(Luke 12,59)
Each individual is responsible for his/her part. Groups with their compulsions and models are also responsible for their part... Especially a formalistic and general legal practice, which would not sufficiently consider the single deeds and motivations, would be viewed as critical, as this would emanate from the thinking of some ancient Pharisees and Sadducees that was most sharply rejected by Jesus.
Already after the great flood - before the mentioned 10 commandments - according to the biblical tradition there were some basic ethical principles valid for all mankind, beyond the Israelites too: 
- the reverence for human life (Gen 9:6), and not to eat meat of living animals. The rabbinic Judaism later derived versions of 7 "Noachian commandments" for Non-Jews: 
You shall not murder; you shall not torment animals; you shall not steal; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not worship idols (in spite of the fact, that Non-Jews did not have to worship God like Jews) ; you shall not blaspheme against God; you shall have courts of justice.
(4)

This knowledge can be a contribution for life: one would deal more with "remaining values" within oneself.
In Christianity the "eternal life" of "the righteous" (e.g. Matthew 25:46); of those who follow Jesus (e.g. Luke 18:29-30), and/or of those who believe in Jesus (e.g. John 3) is not only interesting after death. As far as - with Christ - something within us becomes similar to "Heaven", life in "the future world" changes too, which is also mentioned in some Bible passages.

(neu) topics.nourishing.htm: 

And animals – in the biblical view - are creations of the same God; so they are not "things", as they are often still treated as today (limited by modern laws for the protection of animals.)
The former Judeo-Christian communities - later most of them were islamized - were a true part of Early Christianity; in spite of the fact, that there were some differences between them and other developing churches.

In topics/naturalscience.htm

In 1998, the Catholic Church issued the encyclical "Fides et Ratio" (Faith and Reason) and Pope Benedict XVI also stressed the topic in a speech in 2006 at Regensburg in the following way: "Belief without reason and reason without belief are worth nothing, because man in his wholeness is missed". Michael Springer writes in "Spektrum der Wissenschaft" ("American Science", German issue) in January 2007, that not every missing piece of knowledge refers automatically to things that cannot be explained scientifically, or to God. This is not, by the way, our intention, but for exact conclusions, see above. He admits that the opinion that science will some day be able to fill the 'gaps' is a belief too. In this case, a lot of effort was obviously necessary to leave the question open as to whether scientists are forced to believe in God. This may not be an atheistic ideology, but rather an agnostic one, implying a missing faith without the specified doctrine that there is no God.

(instead of Matthew 23:23) 22:21

In this case it depends on what the property or money is used for (Matthew 6,24: the impossibility to serve mammon and God as well).
The prohibition of interest rates is known from Islam; but Jews and Christians might also find similar advice in the bible (In the Old Testament itself they were prohibitions): 
Ezekiel 18:8-9: He, who does not lend at usury, or take interest (other translation: excessive interest); he, who withholds his hands from doing wrong, and judges fairly between man and man; he, who follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws; this man is righteous; he will surely live, declares the Sovereign Lord.
See also Esra 7:24 (Prohibition of interest, duty and taxes for special occupations); 
Some people interpreted traditionally, Proverbs 28:8 would mean, it does not matter, how the money earned from interest rates is used, because the rich ones finally use it for the benefit of the poor or for public welfare. But wherever today much money is used against that values, the presupposition of the verse is not fulfilled. For fulfilling the values of the verse, it is just important, how money is actually used.
Concerning interest rates see also in the New Testament Matthew 23:23 and 17:24.
The first question was, what might be interesting also beyond the context, in which the Old Testament grew. Therefore the differences in Deuteronomy 23,21 are not discussed here.

(new) topics/philosophy.htm: Religion and philosophy ...
***) Annotation: Habermas und other philosophical schools:
Jürgen Habermas - besides Theodor W. Adorno and Herbert Marcuse - belonged to the "Frankfurter Schule" ("Frankfurt School"), - their "critical theory" influenced considerably the students' movement of 1968, and included changed ideas of neomarxist, enlightening and atheistic origin. 
Mainly Günter Rohrmoser with his conservative philosophical and -theological view criticized since 1969 the theory and activities of the 1968 movement. He saw their  'utopia' as an "ersatz religion" (a substitute for religion, competing with the Christian doctrine of salvation or 'eschatology'), and tried to preserve the old teachings of 'two kingdoms - religion und state, both wanted by God' - from Augustinus. 
The university teachers of the Frankfurt School - and their conservative Christian and economic liberal opponents as well - listed one-sidedly the arguments against each other, describing the opponents sometimes like a united group. So the former ones were not able to ask themselves, if some of the conservative values should be preserved; and the latter ones missed the opportunity to notice a legitimate motivation of the new social movements (beyond the ideological distortions) - which was directed against formalistic authoritarianism -. However, many people in Germany and elsewhere think of this issues now more differentiatedly, because they did no longer accept the old "front lines" of 1968. Nevertheless research did not advance equally - there are still books assigning every evil in the world to the opponents, and ignoring mistakes of their friends.

Addition in topics/creation.htm : 

**) This could be looked at as a special pan-en-theistic view ("God is in his creation too") - not to be confused with pantheism ("God is everything"). However, the most direct relation between God and his creation is made possible by a human being (cf. John 14:21, 14:23; 15), who is aware of this connection, and who becomes more and more similar to Jesus. Enjoying the creation may lead to God too. But that "mysticism of creation" may lead people astray instead - if God would be only a word for one's own earthly things.

In topics/oldtestament.htm The Old Testament, the Jewish Religion and Jesus Christ ...:

This additional page is a contribution towards a better understanding of the Old Testament, and the inter-religious dialogue - including deeper spiritual aspects. The books of the Old Testament are not described here as comprehensively as the Gospel and the Acts (Pentecost) in our main texts. Nevertheless, more contributions to this common heritance of Jews and Christians are possible in the future. (...)
At that time, Jesus' work in this form required the background of a belief in God, and the hope for a great change both in Israel and the rest of the world, as predicted by the prophets. However, it has become possible since that time, ...
Apart from the Hebrew bible, the Jewish religion also produced several more scriptures, such as the Talmud with the jurisprudence of the Mischna and the commentaries (Gemara) - these were created both in the versions of Babylon and of Jerusalem. There are severe problems when the corresponding parts of Judaism attempt to apply the 613 laws (Halacha) formalistically, instead of looking at a situation in the light of God’s love, free of prejudices. Handling church law and even secular law schematically, may produce similar problems. There are also basic scriptures of special schools, especially the mystic esoteric books of kabbalism Zohar (Sohar) / Sepher Jezirah. These books are said to have originated in the 13th century; however, they may date back to even older traditions. They are even reminiscent of ancient Egypt. Today, Jewish mysticism exists too .
... Many modern confusing theories would find their solution, if this viewpoint would be noted. It is a phenomenon in many religions, that e.g. people of weak faith , who were full of hate, were not ready to change their opinions through the words of prophets.
The doctrines of God
"The God of Abraham" was experienced as the personal God of the family, the tribe and the people of Israel; and as the God of the universe as well. This belief got its strict monotheistic shape (one God only) in the course of time, repeatedly invoked by the prophets.* (...)
The Messianic belief and Christ

"Christos" is the word for the prophesied "Meshiah", already mentioned in the "Septuaginta", the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, written by Jews for Jews around (about) the 3rd/2nd century BC. So this is no "fiction" of St. Paul, as some modern writers had believed. The scrolls found in the caves near the Dead Sea (Qumran) show that pious Jews in the decades and centuries before Christ had been awaiting a messianic Kingdom of peace, as it is outlined in Jesaja 11; see also Jer. 31, 31-34. But already at that time there were various opinions concerning the nature of the Messiah - just as the disciples of Jesus had difficulties understanding that the new "Kingdom" would not simply be a national rebellion against the Romans, but a spiritual development changing everything - a "Kingdom of Heaven". See the Letter to the Hebrews.
The community of Qumran is often said to have belonged to the Essenic Order, the third school among the Jews of that time besides the Pharisees and the Sadducees. More correctly, it was an independent community, close to the essenic teachings. They had good contacts to all kinds of different schools; not only to the peaceful Essenians, but to independent, militant "Zelotes" too,  and to the Pharisees at Jerusalem (who gave them the index of the temple's treasury; obviously the Qumran people were looked on as very trustworthy, in spite of having different opinions.) The "statute of the community" 1QS contained descriptions of the awaited Messiah. They were even awaiting two Messiahs or two family trees of the Messiah. (According to the law of that time, Jesus fitted the description: Joseph from the house of David and Mary from the priestly line of Aaron this point of view was also mentioned by Carsten Peter Thiede, who is working on the scrolls for the Israeli authority for antiquities.)
It seems that the prophecy of Micah 5,1, that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem, was not noticed or not considered to be important by the messianic movement of that time.  Nevertheless, Matthew, for instance, mentions this origin of Jesus. Some rashly called this an "invention" of Matthew, because Jesus was said to have his home at Nazareth, which is far away.* From the mystic source Jakob Lorber - who in the 19th century did not have any reason to disprove such speculations - we read that Jesus came from Bethlehem;. not from today's Bethlehem, but from an ancient village named Bethlehem near Nazareth.
(See also the annotation in the main text, part 2, "How to deal with prophecies")
Common jointly concepts about Jesus, held by Jewish and Christian theologians.
Many modern Jewish and Christian researchers have come to the following mutual conclusions concerning Jesus: 
- That he was a real historical person, who was born at Nazareth in Galilee, the son of Joseph and Mary and grew up in a house with brothers and sisters.
- That he was baptized by the preacher John the Baptist and after that, felt called to act publicly and in this context built up the Jesus-movement.
- That, as an itinerant preacher, he taught how to pray to the one God and called on the people to repent in the face of the approaching Divine Kingdom.
- That he did many miracles of healing, for instance of people suffering from mental diseases and that he was accepted especially by those less fortunate in the society of the time, such as the poor, women and the sick.
- That he came into conflict with Jewish scholars in Galilee and Jerusalem until being put to death violently by the Romans.

Certain controversial differences of opinion remain between Jews and Christians:
- Whether Jesus was the prophesied Messiah and how exactly the relation between Jesus and God is.
- How to consider the crucifixion and resurrection.
- How to understand the Christian concept of the more comprehensive "People of God" extending beyond the Jews.
(However, beyond that, there are some Jews and Christians with extreme criticism against each other; but in the interreligious dialogue, they don't play any significant role.)

*) See Hans Küng, Judaism: Between Yesterday and Tomorrow for a study of the development of Judaism. He attempts an integrated research that accepts the contents of the Scriptures as a contextual source, in spite of archaeology and critical theological research, which gives some Christians and Jews pause for thought. (We don’t accept all the consequences resulting from the historico-critical research. For instance, some events surrounding Jesus appear largely to be only subjective experiences. However, Küng is open to an open, not yet explored kind of reality of such experiences.
...Concerning the time before the central Asian flood and the time of the New Testament, see for instance the books of the mystic Jakob Lorber: www.lorber-verlag.de (there are many books translated into English too); and Rudolf Steiner. If one accepts the testimony of Christian mysticism, one can completely forget the theories of some other writers, saying that Jesus would never have existed as a real person, or that he was nothing more than an itinerant preacher.

In topics/islam.htm : Jesus Christus and the Islam, changes:
This page is a contribution to better understanding and to the interreligious dialogue. (...)
Angel "Gibril" - often identified with ...
Further traditions ("Sunna", literally: "habit") with sayings/ anecdotes of the Prophet (Hadithes) play a part for the interpretation of the Koran. Even a prophet is, in his personal behaviour, a human being, and no God.
The Koran addresses Christians and Jews sometimes directly as "You people of the scriptures..." (for instance sura 4:171 ) and as "You children of Israel". So they can be interested in what is written in this holy book - in spite of the fact that most of them usually will not deal with it. Religious science anyway studies the scriptures of all religions. However, the Holy books should be studied with respect. One section of the Muslim commentators of the Koran wrote, there is an original Koran - kept by God in a safe place -, accessible only to pure angels and pure prophets; an other section of them interpreted, that the reader of the Koran on earth should be in a pure state. (...)
In the first centuries of the Islam Christians and Jews have not been forced to convert to Islam - according to the teachings in the Koran, "In religion there is no enforcement", sura 2,256*.
Abraham is looked on as one of the "Hanifes", who found belief in the one God alone, for instance some hermits.
"Non-Believers" (literally: "Coverers") were, in the strict sense, , the polytheistic cults - idolatry, against which Mohammed fought in Arabia and against which the Bible already warned Jews and Christians. Today in a wider sense, Islam looks on those as Non-Believers, who don't believe in the one God and the Last Judgement. Sometimes the term is falsely generalized for all non-Muslims; sometimes even by Muslims for the other schools.
In Romans 1:4 is said, that Jesus became "installed" as Son in his spiritual power - and therefore not born.
Christians might agree with the islamic conviction, that God is unborn and has not "born" but "created" Jesus. Further the Greek term "logos" - in the Bible used for the divine origin or mission of Jesus Christ - became translated in the Gospels as "The Word", which is used for jesus in the Koran. Do the Inspirations of the Koran contain mysteries not yet discovered fully by Muslims or Christians - possibly resulting in useless quarreling about terms? Also where Christians present this teachings in words, which must be understood as some polytheistic religion, this is not according to the teachings of Jesus himself: "Pray to the father (God) in my name (meaning with reference to Jesus" (John. 15:16). I n the life of Jesus everything revolves about the one God, to whom just Jesus can lead people. (...)
Moslems and Christians disagree on the question, whether Jesus was crucified, died and overcame death before his ascension to heaven – as Christians say -, or if God has risen him alive into heaven - as Muslims believe. However, both believe, that he was not "dead" at that time when he was risen (the bible for instance states, he spoke to his disciples immediately before he went to heaven.)

Jesus will then come again, and be a witness or a judge for the believing people of the Scriptures (sura 4,159; compare sura 16,89*). (...) According to the Koran and to the Bible as well, the Last Judgement is an act of God, and not of human beings, no matter if they are Christians, Moslems or Jews.
(Such comparisons between the religions do not mean to place doubt on the independence of the Koran.)
In the suras 3:55 and 5:48 it is said, „...I will make him pure" and "...you all will come back to me, and I (God) will decide, what You were in disagreement about". So Christians and Moslems might wait for the solution of some remaining mysteries instead of quarreling. (...)
In today's Islam there is no central authority, which decides religious-ethical questions. However, positions that are shared by a clear majority of reputable scholars (ulama), would probably be widely accepted.
**) Concerning the historical development of the Islam and the different schools see Hans Küng, "Islam. Past, Present and Future", Oneworld, Oxford 2007. (Referencing books of others does not indicate, that this website supports all of their opinions.)
***) Also the medieval "Christian crusades" were not based on the Bible, but human deeds, and (the crusades) have a bad reputation for instance among most of today's european Christians.
Gihad...(literal: "struggle, fight") ...
(and many other small changes).

Buddha in the "Kalama Sutra": "Let yourself not be led..., not by hearsay, ...traditions, ... opinions of the day, ...the authority of holy scriptures, ...mere reason and logical conclusions, fictitious theories and preferred opinions, ...impressions of personal advantages,...the authority of a master. But if You realize yourself...". (Real faith is more similar to recognition & conviction than to an intellectual concept.)
He speaks about the origin of everything, even of the Hindu deities. So, what is he speaking of? (Obviously for Buddha the origin and the goal were unmanifested. However, the unmanifested Nirvana or highest reality is not "nothing". It is simply beyond human imagination. Note: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all know that it is of no use - or even forbidden - to make an image of God. (...)
Some other updates and link to a German update (...).

Holy Scriptures: The oldest religious basis is the Vedas, ascribed to the "Rishis" of the "Golden Age". Later, for instance, the epic of the Mahabharata was added, with its description of prehistoric occurrences - often looked on as myths - including wars, and therefore from a not so "golden" era. The wisdom literature of the Upanishads followed. The Bhagavad-Gita is related to the teachings of Krishna.

topics/taoism.htm
An early Christian Church in China - no longer existing today - "translated" essential contents of Christianity for a taoist context in the 8th century: Martin Palmer, "The Jesus Sutras", Ballantine Wellspring, New York, USA. (As far as books of others are mentioned, "Ways of Christ" does not automatically support all (of) their contents.)

(new) topics/religion.htm: "Religion as reconnection with God":

...It is possible to show that this break is one of the meanings of "eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge" in the myth of paradise - so overcoming one's negative ("devilish") qualities will include healing this break.

...This does not mean, that all these paths must lead to the same goal. Concerning the similarities and differences see our special pages.

topics/relations.htm : see revisions of the main text, chapter 10.

(new) topics/help.htm.

(new) topics/times.htm Table: "Archetypes" - from the earliest history - elucidated by the Bible - to Jesus, and to the future.

(new) topics/purification.htm "A Christian way - digestion of the daily life".

(new) b/pope.htm "Pope John Paul II and the successor Benedict XVI."

(new) topics/news_caricatures.htm "Critical comments: the caricatures showing Prophet Mohammed from danish newspapers.

(new) en1234/revision_en060506.htm : Mary of Magdala.