the_words Not Lee Cantelon Follow the 6 links below to read all of the words of Jesus of Nazareth. There are so many people that speak against his message, yet they don't even know what his message is, so... Here it is. ---------------------------------------- WHO_DO_YOU_SAY_THAT_I_AM ? _THE_NEW_KINGDOM_ THE_GREAT_LESSONS THE_CALL_TO_A_NEW_LIFE THE_PROMISE THE_LAST_DAYS_OF CHRIST_ON_EARTH ---------------------------------------- PREFACE This book is the fulfillment to a conversation that took place in the mid-1980's in London on the steps of a friend's house where he described his exhaustive search for spiritual illumination and renewal. He was despairing after so many miles traveled and questions left unanswered. Casually, it seems now, I asked why he hadn't included the teachings of Christ in his quest. Too obvious for our sense of searching? He was surprised by my suggestion. He told me he had thumbed through the New Testament on a few occasions, but had never concentrated on the words of Jesus. Night fell and we parted company, but both of us began traveling in a similar direction; he to uncover the words of Jesus for the first time in a great while, while I returned to them with a renewed passion of study. Underlying my research began to grow a sense of how little I knew , or even the most educated seemed to know about the content of Christ's message, and the shallow extent to which His message seemed to permeate the contemporary religious establishment. The more I read, the more at odds appeared so many activities and programs executed in His name. For the message of the one who called Himself Messiah is nothing if not confrontational. Demanding a response from those who approached His words, it sounds a revolutionary call to a world that is beset by greed, self-loathing, and denial. It would be safe to say that in Christ's words lies the fundamental essence of change. While there is comfort and succor in a great many ideas of Jesus, there is also an inescapably radical call that denies us an apathetic response. He arrived on the scene with a message that did not emphasize a vengeful God who would destroy the wicked, but a loving God who extended mercy and forgiveness. He opened the way for all to a kingdom that was available to man or woman, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, as long as they make themselves "like little children" and opened their hearts to recognize its presence among them. As much as His worldview might reflect the Jewish tradition of His time, we are compelled to acknowledge that the prevailing message is unprecidented---as in His teaching regarding women, prayer, and unity with God. His teachings radiate a radical concept of ethical concern for one's fellow beings and the sanctity of life, extending to an internal understanding beyond the rationality of religious law in a universal appeal that communicates to and includes all. And how readily His teachings enter the vocabulary of our hearts and minds. Twenty centuries later they retain the power to stir, challenge, and heal. Institutions and personalities may rise, distract, and fall, but His words remain as "...the morning star that arises in our hearts." Certainly, in countless unexpected ways, some subtle and some more evident, my pursuit of understanding and illuminating the message of Jesus combined to alter the course of my life's journey. A great number of individuals came to my assistance throughout the process of assembling this text. I would like to mention the important work of the late William Barclay of the University of Glasgow, Kenneth Scott Latourette of Yale, Willard and Verna Cantelon, who provided practical and spiritual encouragement, and Oxford University's God's New Covenant With Man, an inspired translation. I hope that this book will cause you to take courage on your spiritual search, and lead you to the source of the Spirit, and the light that shines in a dark world. The novelist and essayist, Sholom Ash wrote, "Other teachers have something basic for an Arab, an Oriental, an Occidental, but every word of Jesus has something for us all. He has become the light of the world." - Lee Cantelon ---------------------------------------- 010826 ... The Truth It's pretty risky posting every word that Jesus ever said on blather. That takes guts. But I wonder... Do you think people will even read them? The predicted response to this, of course, is the automatic rejection, with some high possibilities of the equivelants of name-calling. The truly ignorant will probably even get OFFENDED by the simple words, as if they are FORCED to read them! Nobody is forced to read anything here though, they choose to read it by their own free will. Then, in their all-too-predictable characteristic hypocrisy, they will try to post something offensive, trying to offend whoever reads it, because they were offended by harmless, truthful, words. But hey...that's what blather is all about right? I can't wait until someone, who is closed minded to this, starts ranting about open mindedness... 010826 ... Not Lee Cantelon I think that last chapter's link is broken... The_last_days_of_Christ_on_Earth 010826 ... bijou blather_church 010826 ... unhinged i'm not close minded toward jesus. he was a smart and loving man. but he was not the only one that has preached loving and understanding throughout the course of history. i have no problem with jesus. and you are right, it is hypocritical of me to say that the words of jesus should not be posted here. they have as much right to be posted here as my idiotic ramblings. and no i don't have to read them. i didn't read most of them in fact. i have heard things of that nature many times. i grew up in a mostly christian community with a christian family. i don't reject the teachings of jesus. but i do reject many of the attitudes of the people that follow him. i guess if you can admit that some or most of or all of your actions are hypocritical that's part of solving the problem. i guess i should thank the person that has insisted on posting the whole of that book here on blather. while there are somethings that i don't like about every religion, everyone can learn from the words of jesus. 010826 ... punkish go to hell 010826 ... DannyH So hang on, is this book a remix of the words of Jesus as represented in the New Testament? Isn't paraphrasing the Lord a touch questionable. 010826 ... unhinged that's all the bible is 010826 ... dB I feel there is something to be learned from all religions. At the core they all seem to have the same kind of motives "be nice to each other" etc, which can't be a bad thing. Even if you just read the holy books to expand on your grammar, it's still useful. Like unhinged, and many other people here, I believe that blather is under the protection of free speech. Anyone can post anything. If someone chooses to read said post, then fine, it's their choice. If they want to debate said post, again, their choice. If they are offended, and end up posting something criticising the person who posted it, it's their CHOICE. It may not be right (in my view), to knock someone for their beliefs, but we all CAN do it, if we want. For whoever posted the sayings of Jesus, good on ya. I'll read the rest shortly. I'm not sure if Jesus was the son of god or anything, but I believe that he was a good, kind man that held no animosity for anyone, which is a really rare trait in humans. He also was good at motivating people. 010826 ... The Truth DannyH, then, by that same reasoning, wouldn't the translation of Scripture into the English language also be a touch questionable. Our language lacks many exact translations for Hebrew words, so it's all basically paraphrased already... I mean, think of 200 years from now when they read stuff from modern day literature and translate into a different language. They may take our figures of speech at face value, for instance take this statement: "Change the channel, this crap makes me sick, I can't stand these commercials, they're killing me." Will they translate killing as annoying? or murdering? How will they know if we meant sick as in ill, or frustrated. Does channel mean frequency setting, or long corridor to them? What about stand? and crap? Hewbrew language is very mathematical. 010827 ... unique butterfly the words i have to say i cannot seem to find. it would be impossible to say them even if i knew them. there's so much to say, there's so much i feel. it would take an eternity to tell you everything i love about you. 010828 ... Photophobe Its not really very mathematical. Each letter has a number equivalent, sure, but its not really too meaningful. A lot of rabbis have had fun playing with equivalent values of words, creating all sorts of parrelles, but really its quite similar to doing a sort of mystic crossword. It was translated into and out of aremaic a couple of times before it became (even ancient) hebrew, latin, or english. So todays modern hebrew version is not really very close to the origonal anyway. I don't know why I just wrote all that... 010905 ... DannyH I quite agree The Truth (are you still reading, even if not contributing, I hope so) the translation itself is indeed questionable. my problem is with bible literalists and those who use the bible as a smokescreen for their own agenda. the only problem I have ever had with christians is their fondness for answers, their fear of open questions and their apparant desire to reduce the sum of human understanding. I hate bible literalists and manipulaters who select from the text to suit their own agenda and then claim to be quoting the inviolable words of God. On a personal note I think its sad if you feel you've been driven off blather although I expect you to pop up under another alias owing to the blather_boomerang_effect. both in your case and chritys I don't think its the words anyone had a problem with, its the attempt to grab the whole of the space. the only thing anyone can do to make this thing not work is to flood it and people are quite rightly admonished for their bad manners in doing so. It is especially irritating when the words are not their own. Thats my last on the subject. if you're reading Truth, there's no malice here. 010906 ... h e a t h e n Wow... that's all I can say after reading that... wow. I pretty much had a bad taste in my mouth about Christianity from childhood. I was raised as a Christian, but delved into other things in college because my parents, and my pastor, and my family, all said "Praise God" all the time, but they all lied, cheated, drank, lusted. I was disgusted by them and I left them behind. But now... Is it my right to get mad at them? They are only human, facing the same struggles and challenges as everyone else. Maybe I was wrong to judge Christianity based on their actions?. That's what I did, I judged them, as if I myself am perfect...which I am not. Now I realize that maybe it's not Christianity that is wrong, but it's people's imperfections that tarnish it's image. I hear people compare buddhism, as if there are no buddhists hypocrites! Ever been to china? Those words have done something to me... it's all true what Jesus said about karma and forgiveness... It's nice to read it without all those "thy" thine" "doeth" "thou". I don't know... I think I need to go accept someone's apology, and stop using guilt as a weapon. 010907 ... j butt a native american's idea of a christian is colored by the victor's history. prolly not much as changed for him except gotten worse. except they are slowly by assimilated into Lord knows what. resistance is futile. resistince is futile. being a christain is the only way to heavan. [fortunate for the natives, they are going for their favorite fishin hole in the ski] 020322 ... "The" Man They just kept comin'! 080710 what's it to you? who go blather from