Re: What Atheists Can't Answer

Westprog wrote:
> "Bob the Window" <b@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:4dgni.11347$rL1.2801@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> ...
>> It was the religious Jews whose authority Jesus undermined....
> ...
> 
> All the Jews were religious Jews. The secular Jew didn't arise for over
a
> thousand years.

I meant the religious authorities, of course. Jesus preached to more 
than just the Jews. He made it clear that his new world order included 
non-Jews as equal members of society, (in religion, too), which incensed 
the Jewish authorities. The Romans would have agreed with him, but the 
church was able to convince them that he was a threat to the religious 
authorities that kept order for them. Without their cooperation, the 
province would have been ungovernable. It's notable that the writers of 
the Bible barely criticize the Romans, considering they were the ones 
who carried out the trial and execution.

>> I would disagree that Jesus was not a social reformer. He promoted the
>> idea of conscience as a guiding force, which has had a much greater
>> influence, in the end, than his apparent acceptance of legal authority.
> 
> His views were enormously influential, but they were religious views.

They work just as well if used as a basis for a just society; Jesus' 
real message, in my view. Jesus' teachings are obviously not solely 
religious.

Please feel free to regard Jesus as a religious figure, however. I 
believe there are some others who would agree with you.