Ways-of-Christ.net
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List:
since July 2001 integrated updates in the additional pages of
ways-of-christ.net/, 23rd of May, 2010 There is a similar list of the updates of the main text. (Many new annotations concerning places in the bible, or the revision of the english translation are not listed here.) |
In the additional page "The new birth" of the main text:
Even for people, who don't seek this
experience intensively, at an earlier, restful age Christmas was connected with
this experience. The festive mood during the Advent time of the Church year
prepared for the inward reminiscence of the "Birth of Christ"; as the
conscious fasting time prepared for Easter Sunday. So in some years one could
experience something - even though not fully understanding it -, that needs
today intensive meditation or long periods of prayer.
Christmas is a feast of love too, reminding of Jesus as a gift to mankind.
However this does not change the deeper meaning; one can follow all steps in the
life of Jesus. Cf. also the chapter "And the word became flesh" in
the main text.
(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.
The Gospels and theologies.
The
Gospels – and for instance that part of the Gospel of Mark, named
"Q"– represent different viewpoints. So they are written for groups
of people with different background. Mark was important (for instance)
for the analytical mind of the Romans and for translations into the roman
languages. But Prof. Morton Smith named a "secret part" of that
Gospel, stemming from Peter, used for a few experienced people only, containing
the Lazarus story and so on. The austrian mystic Lorber says, Mark was - as a
boy - an appreciated messenger between the Disciples. So he would have known
exactly, what was going on. He shows approaches of a
theologian, with the central question "who is Jesus?".
The original Matthew, which is lost or not yet discovered, must have been
directed to the Jews; also the present Gospel of Matthew is finally directed to
everybody who needs extended descriptions full of life about
the deeds of Jesus.
Luke similarly, but with deep feelings.
The Gospel of St. John was written for spiritual Christians (for
instance with Greek Mystery origin), working out the specific Christian concept
in their language.
John most clearly looks at the life of Jesus from the Cross and Resurrection;
Matthew starts from the life. Both viewpoints are correct, but the cross and
resurrection have most consequences for the time after.
The "Gospel of Philippus" (apocryphic) is no Gospel, but an Early Christian "contribution to a discussion" with several movements, having its viewpoint between them. (It is no gnostic paper, as some may assume.). The "Gospel of Tom" (apocryphic) is no Gospel, but a collection of sayings of Jesus - at least most of it authentical -, including some wordings dedicated to spiritually interested people…
Different peoples could work out different aspects better.
Methods.
Similarly
the different methods of research are all useful, if applied together
(interdisciplinarily). However, if one tries to built up theology on one science
only (like linguistic research or "Formgeschichte" or archeological
research), the result becomes partially false. Additional meditative methods
are necessary.
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.
"b/churches.htm":
The Bogumiles and the Catharians were
partially similar, but were one-sidedly withdrawing from the world.
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.
However, this is
difficult, lifelong learning process; and spreading such messages requires an
actual call to do this, a special connection with God, and adequate preparation.
- 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.
- "...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).
- Spirit
works through one's self, connected with Christ.
For instance, if somebody were to spread aggressively some defamation against
another Christian, using opinions acquired by reading, and claiming a personal
inspiration from Christ - and so causing discord - most probably it is neither a
legitimate activity nor a true message from Christ or the Holy Spirit.
... For example,
through the "inner voice/ inner word in
the heart" which is fully
conscious and therefore not to be confused with hypnotic or schizophrenic
phenomena. Some experience in
practice shows that its nature is different from telepathic phenomena too.
(Cf. "Vom Inneren Wort" - German: The inner word, extracts from
Johannes Tennhardt, Jakob Lorber, etc.; Lorber-Verlag).
(Consciously seeking the Spirit of God is
spirituality, and seeking contacts to ghosts in trance is named spirit(ual)ism.)
**)
In some cases, however, even people with a genuine capacity for inspiration may
undergo experiences similar to recognised mentally disturbed states - where the
inner dialogues may continue obsessively and where the person remains unable to
handle earthly necessities. To avoid such excesses as far as possible, it may
help to take into account - besides the above aspects - some practical
prerequisites like: enough sleep; adequate nutrition,
e.g. with enough B vitamins (that means caution with fasting, if one does not
have sufficient experience with it); a clear attunement to the desired source
(Christ); the avoidance of overlong sessions, with the associated tendency to go
off at a tangent and to become overexcited; and after intensive inner
experiences, sufficient effort to return to the present "earthly"
reality. Helpers, spiritual guides (e.g. priests), therapists etc. may
only be of practical assistance if they have specific experience / knowledge,
which means taking not only the disturbed state seriously, but the undisturbed
basic phenomenon too.
Additions in
b/matthewapocalypse
Later addition: in the meantime people like the Watchtower Society noticed this
connection too; this is noted here without the usual negative comments about
that group or sect, because they worked it out with many details, and the big
churches were not very interested in these serious questions. But their theory,
this whole message of Matthew 23 & 24 would refer to the old Romans, is
false, (...)
Matthew 13:30 and 13:36-43
concerns the development towards a new time too.
(new) topics/community.htm.
Addition in scenarios.htm
... - a specifical way on earth towards unity
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...
In "topics/correction.htm...":
Other authors
also joined in the previously mentioned speculation regarding Jesus with many
details connected with Jewish history, but without resolving the mentioned
contradictions. By reducing Jesus' resurrection in some parts of this literature
to a historically tangible, pure resurrection ritual similar to that of the late
Egyptian kings and possibly the Essenes and later traditions stemming from it,
they withhold from the readers that renewing contribution that Jesus gave in
this regard. It would not have damaged the relationships between historical
groups such as the Essenes and the Order of the Templars if they had simply done
without the anti-resurrection dogma. The purely mystical way of looking at the
deeds carried out by Jesus already became lost in early Christian times because
it was to difficult for some early Judo-Christian and Gnostic groups to
understand and for this reason it is pointless trying to attempt to prove that
what they had understood was the complete truth when one takes their beliefs
into account. Others understood other parts of the truth, as shown, for
instance, by the many early Christians who believed in a more universal
significance of the resurrection; and there were also those who used the
"paper for discussions" known as the "Gospel
of Philip" in this regard. Paul, who was excellently suited to play
the "bogey man", was not the only source of those traditions that kept
the teachings of the physically and spiritually transforming nature of the Resurrection
alive. Those who have some respect for the broadly accepted version handed down
through the history of the churches can more easily approach the truth than
those who thoughtlessly discard everything that does not agree with their
beliefs.
When such activities lead to a continual defamation of Jesus Christ, it can have
spiritual consequences that exceed a purely human matter.
3. There was also speculation about several "tombs with bones of
Jesus" in Israel and elsewhere too. In the context of Middle East, with
grave robbers - e.g. a bone case of such a tomb was stolen -; and where
thousands of such cases are stored in museums, and where bones, if there, were
given away for second burial, etc. it is almost impossible to get trustworthy
recognitions about the persons. So the frequently used names on the cases do not
prove anything. Also Probability calculus cannot exclude similarities of names
in different families.
Holistic historical research would not start from the assumption, that
ressurection in the traditional meaning would not have been possible. Further -
instead of taking up prophecy, that can be related to Jesus, only as a source
for hopes of Jesus 2000 years ago - today one can take into account, that these
inspirations may point to something real, not yet fathomed till it happens.
* 4. There is also more speculation about the life of Jesus, leading to various
ideas. See also an update
concerning Maria of Magdala. There was even more speculation: Jesus might
have been Moses, or an egyptian Pharao, or Julius Cesar, or a bycantinic
imperator(!).
** Strangely enough, these types of books don't mention the fact that a very old
Gospel text of the first century was also found at Qumran, which shows, when
compared with today's texts, that texts were also handed down quite correctly.
In "topics/eternallife.htm":
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.
In "topics/destiny.htm"
Christianity and its relation to other teachings about karma and reincarnation:
The "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world" (John 1:29) does not only refer to sins in the narrow sense
of negative deeds, or sinfulness as a tendency to such deeds. The ancient
meaning of the word "sin" - "separation" - is a good
translation: everything with a tendency to separate man from God; including
negative deeds of others against oneself or sufferings too.
See also Matthew 16:13-14 and 17:12-13, and John 9:2.
**) ...Since 538 decisions were made against teachings in this context, concerning the individual human spirit. But a so named "Council's decision" from 553 was a product of a meeting, handpicked by the Roman emperor Justinian; the Pope, at that time staying in the same town, boycotted that meeting instead of signing the decisions.
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.
Religious Fasting shows even more clearly the purification which may lead to
more openness to spiritual experiences. This was for instance a Catholic
tradition - on Fridays, with reminiscences of Good Friday, and the Shrovetide in
the weeks before Good Friday. This practice has not been taken very seriously
for a long time, but now its significance has risen again, even beyond the
Catholic context. People practise abstinence in many different ways, not only in
the narrow sense of fasting. Additionally, they think of the many hungry people
in the world. In this context some medieval and more recent Christian and other
mystics from the Medieval Age up to our time had the deeper experience of living
without food in general - Latin: "inedia". Some people in our own time
named it "living on light". This is a hint that the spirit can handle
matter better than has been explored in science. (This requires that one knows
oneself guided by God, and is accompanied by a competent person to avoid danger.
It is not meant as a recommendation to go that way.)
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.)
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. And another new concept which only recognised belief in God as
providing ethical validation of a material culture, is, in itself, insufficient
to meet the above-mentioned criteria.
(new) topics/healing.htm
(new) topics/economy.htm : Christian viewpoints concerning economy and social questions:
(instead of Matthew 23:23)
22:21Addition in topics/society.htm:
General Christian viewpoints concerning society and politics.
In Matth. 7:5 Jesus does not want us to work on
our own weak points only - as some Christian groups seem to believe. We simply
should start with our part of the problems, and then - more free than before,
without ascribing our problems to others - rebuke or critisize them, where it
seems to be necessary. This may concern our friends, or politicians as well.
So independent Christian thinking beyond
traditional "left-wing" or "right-wing" thought patterns may
be necessary.
(new) topics/philosophy.htm:
Religion and philosophy ...
**) 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.
(new) topics/unbornlife.htm
In topics/prayer.htm***
-
see Mark 12:30 too -
You may consult Mt 5:9 and 26:52, and Churches' declarations for peace.
***) Nature cries for help. It's time for praying, Lord save us from the
'excited' forces of nature. However, this does not replace a change in the
behaviour of man in relation to the rest of the creation.
The new viewpoints of this page are no contrary to the
manifold prayers of the churches. See the Lord's Prayer, with bible passages
etc. concerning prayer too. God can deal out the love, given to him, in all
churches.
(new) b/blessings.htm
(new) topics/complaining.htm
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. (...)"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 from
the origin to the tragedy 1933-1945 and the present time.
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:
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).
(new) topics/buddhism.htm:
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.)
(new) topics/hinduism.htm:
Among the schools of Hinduism, the "Vaishnavites" can be looked upon as a monotheist one.
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.)
topics/shinto.htm "The japanese Shinto-Religion and general viewpoints concerning natural religions".
topics/parsism.htm
(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.
Additions in reference.htm
(Imprint)
(new) b/philippus.htm with updates
(new) b/thomas.htm
(new) topics/trinity.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.
(new) topics/egypt.htm "Notes on Ancient Egyptian Religion
(new) topics/ancienteurope.htm "Remarks on Early European Religions: Greek, Roman, Germanic, Celtic Religion
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