A Few Tricky Questions!

blahblah1234

I don't know if this has already been talked about, however, when Mary was pregnant and Joseph was on her side, surely he must have been worried about where the pregnancy came from. Although Mary probably explained that it came from a higher source/intelligence, would he really believe something like that. For example, the baby was formed out of no where, would I believe it in this day and age if my girlfriend said those lines to me?..No, I wouldn't believe because it sounds too farfetched. Now if I'm like that if a God ' exists ', and after Jesus' birth, then Joseph must have been in an more than awkward position without any God or Jesus'?....I would leave my girlfriend, why didn't Joseph?

Back in those days, when Jesus was born, it's fact that the people back then were not as intelligent as us here. It is farfetched that a book should dominate our life in the case of religion and nothing else. He got a few followers, and his interest increased. These followers preached to more and more and more. For all we know this could be the scenario. Jesus was born and was treated like a King because his mother thought he was special. He grew up very religiously and so spread his way of how people should live their life, it doesn't take someone special to say don't steal. His belief in God could be described as a being inside his head that He believed in, thus spreading it with everyone else. As the book was passed through time, it can be exaggerated the things he was supposed to of done to make himself sound divine of some sorts. Even today this policy is often used. I know of several high-up famous people that have exaggerated things they have done but was found out to be misinterpreting it to make it adjoin with them. The Bible is like a story, it has a message which has to be heard, and if good, will be spread more, and it contains fiction to exaggerate, like a lot of books I have read even today. Fact and Fiction rolled into one.

One last idea I came up with for Christians. Muslims are more dedicated to their belief than any other religion I know. They believe that Jesus cam to Earth and as well they believe others came as well. They believe in their religion 100%. What gives us the right to say our religion is true to our faith and over theirs. Even though the answer could be twisted as ' Every religion believes what they want ', the fact is believing in one automatically says the story of another is wrong or misinterpreted, if there was only one religion then there wouldn't be confusion. The majority of people that are brought up will normally believe their parents belief, so their is no choice until were older but even then many, or the most won't convert. If there was none of this, then, well, what do you think?

By the way, I don't have a degree in theology, and I'm not an expert in this field, however these are wuestions I often keep in mind, and would likea second opinion or if I'm completely wrong, then that can be pointed out as well.

blahblah1234

blahblah1234 wrote:

I don't know if this has already been talked about, however, when Mary was pregnant and Joseph was on her side, surely he must have been worried about where the pregnancy came from. Although Mary probably explained that it came from a higher source/intelligence, would he really believe something like that. For example, the baby was formed out of no where, would I believe it in this day and age if my girlfriend said those lines to me?..No, I wouldn't believe because it sounds too farfetched. Now if I'm like that if a God ' exists ', and after Jesus' birth, then Joseph must have been in an more than awkward position without any God or Jesus'?....I would leave my girlfriend, why didn't Joseph?

I've read some books which talk about all this and how she wasn't necessarily a virgin, it was a mistranslation, and various other fascinating things about the whole scenario. However, the answer here I suppose would have to be that they had faith.

Back in those days, when Jesus was born, it's fact that the people back then were not as intelligent as us here.

Do you want to give us a source for that? Cos the Greek philosophers for one example seem to have been pretty damned intelligent to me.

Excelsior

blahblah1234 wrote:

I don't know if this has already been talked about, however, when Mary was pregnant and Joseph was on her side, surely he must have been worried about where the pregnancy came from. Although Mary probably explained that it came from a higher source/intelligence, would he really believe something like that. For example, the baby was formed out of no where, would I believe it in this day and age if my girlfriend said those lines to me?..No, I wouldn't believe because it sounds too farfetched. Now if I'm like that if a God ' exists ', and after Jesus' birth, then Joseph must have been in an more than awkward position without any God or Jesus'?....I would leave my girlfriend, why didn't Joseph?

It gets worse than you have presented. In the society of the day, a bethroted girl who gets pregnant would have been completely ostracized. When Joseph took her in, he didn't just have to wrestle with doubts about Mary's fidelity, he was taking on his own shoulders the burden of isolation that societal norms would have placed on Mary.

And yet Joseph took her and married her. Maybe it had something to do with the vision he got?

blah wrote:

Back in those days, when Jesus was born, it's fact that the people back then were not as intelligent as us here. It is farfetched that a book should dominate our life in the case of religion and nothing else. He got a few followers, and his interest increased. These followers preached to more and more and more. For all we know this could be the scenario. Jesus was born and was treated like a King because his mother thought he was special. He grew up very religiously and so spread his way of how people should live their life, it doesn't take someone special to say don't steal. His belief in God could be described as a being inside his head that He believed in, thus spreading it with everyone else. As the book was passed through time, it can be exaggerated the things he was supposed to of done to make himself sound divine of some sorts. Even today this policy is often used. I know of several high-up famous people that have exaggerated things they have done but was found out to be misinterpreting it to make it adjoin with them. The Bible is like a story, it has a message which has to be heard, and if good, will be spread more, and it contains fiction to exaggerate, like a lot of books I have read even today. Fact and Fiction rolled into one.

This is a common position but I don't think it has a lot of credibility. Especially your description of Jesus, his rise to prominence and his teachings. The Bible stuff? Well that is hashed out in lots of other threads. It is a complex and fascinating question to think about though.

blah wrote:

One last idea I came up with for Christians. Muslims are more dedicated to their belief than any other religion I know. They believe that Jesus cam to Earth and as well they believe others came as well. They believe in their religion 100%. What gives us the right to say our religion is true to our faith and over theirs. Even though the answer could be twisted as ' Every religion believes what they want ', the fact is believing in one automatically says the story of another is wrong or misinterpreted, if there was only one religion then there wouldn't be confusion. The majority of people that are brought up will normally believe their parents belief, so their is no choice until were older but even then many, or the most won't convert. If there was none of this, then, well, what do you think?

I think many people failed to perceive the truth you have nicely articulated:
"the fact is believing in one automatically says the story of another is wrong or misinterpreted"

The difficulty is that everyone has a worldview. If you aren't a Christian or a Muslim or any other belief system, that doesn't mean you have no belief. And your a-belief is in conflict with all the other ones too. Again, fascinating questions.

blah wrote:

By the way, I don't have a degree in theology, and I'm not an expert in this field, however these are wuestions I often keep in mind, and would likea second opinion or if I'm completely wrong, then that can be pointed out as well.

Degrees in theology and philosophy don't qualify you to think! A book I found really helpful when I first began thinking about this stuff was Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. You might find it equally thought provoking.

hairyheretic

Excelsior wrote:

I think many people failed to perceive the truth you have nicely articulated:
"the fact is believing in one automatically says the story of another is wrong or misinterpreted"

The difficulty is that everyone has a worldview. If you aren't a Christian or a Muslim or any other belief system, that doesn't mean you have no belief. And your a-belief is in conflict with all the other ones too. Again, fascinating questions.

That tends to hold true moreso if someone has a monotheistic position. It tends to come out as "My god is real, yours isn't".

If someone believes in many gods, as several belief systems do, then it isn't that much harder to have a position of "These are my gods, who I follow. You have your own god(s), who I don't follow." It doesn't tend to automatically discount others beliefs, or claim that they are wrong.

Scofflaw

hairyheretic wrote:

That tends to hold true moreso if someone has a monotheistic position. It tends to come out as "My god is real, yours isn't".

If someone believes in many gods, as several belief systems do, then it isn't that much harder to have a position of "These are my gods, who I follow. You have your own god(s), who I don't follow." It doesn't tend to automatically discount others beliefs, or claim that they are wrong.

Any polytheistic position automatically discounts monotheism - not the God, but the belief that said God is the only God.


cordially,
Scofflaw