Comment

Zealot

the Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Port Moody Public Library.
Jan 29, 2015
Before I attempted to write my comments on the book, I read the ones already posted. I found them very thoughtful, and they covered the ground I was to tread. As a person who has been indoctrinated in, and has studied the Bible on my own for much of my life, the most revealing thing to me was that Jesus had no intention of starting a new religion. He was a revolutionary and a reformer. What I don't understand is how, after all my independent study, I could have missed it. He said many times that he was the son of man, not the Son of God. He said several times that he came for the Jews, not the gentiles. He said that he came not to change a jot or a tittle of the word, what we call the Old Testament. All of these themes strike me as anathema to Christianity as we know it today. The latter comment is meant as an observation only, and not a criticism. The beatitudes took on a new meaning for me read in light of this new knowledge, that Jesus was a revolutionary and a reformer. You could almost say a socialist. He was not alone.