If you have not read this account about Saint Issa it is definitely worth a peak.
Christianity
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At the very heart of any living tradition there are at least two elements of ongoing tension. One element says, “I don’t need the outside world to solve my problems. It is disgusting and creates only ugliness. Why do I need the noise, the music, the pornography, and the heathenism therein? Using my own inner resources I can solve all my problems from inside my own tradition.” The second element insists on openness toward the outside world. “There are some really beautiful things in the world beyond us,” it points out. “There are really things that we can learn from that world. Not everything about the outside world is ugly. Let’s borrow the good things, and, by integrating them with our tradition, enrich ourselves as a result.” These two elements are an ongoing conflict in any viable religious tradition.
Chaim Potok lecture, March 20, 1986
Southern College of Seventh-day Adventists
Collegedale, Tennessee U.S.A.
Edited by Dr. Jerry Gladson
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Were the Disciples and Apostles Messianic Jews or had they denied Judaism and taken on a new faith called Christianity?
Open for discussion…
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My church is a fundamentalist independent church. Most ABFs on Sunday morning’s teach portions of the NT, other than the Gospels. My children are taught about the OT and similar portions of the NT in their Sunday school classes.
This past Sunday, at the end of my ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) class on Ephesians, I asked the teacher if there were any plans to teach the Gospels. His answer was “not likely”, that there is more interest to teach about Ephesians and other writings by Paul.
Being relatively knew to the world of Christianity, and someone who truly loves reading the “red” print in the Gospels, I asked what the difference between the sayings of Jesus are in the Gospels and the writings of Paul. His answer (which he and the class thought was funny) was that Paul did not have a red pen.
So, the question that I have for this discussion is… Are the sayings of Jesus, recorded in the Gospels of any more importance than the works of Paul? An added question to this would be, are the writings of the Disciples of any more importance than the writings of the Apostles? I have heard the answer that “All scripture is inspired, but this is not the answer I need to understand their argument of equality.
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My past posts have been commentaries that were not asking for responses. I hope to get a nice discussion going on this Post. I originally posted this as a Discussion in LinkedIn and got quite a response that I thought I would try it as a Blog to reach a larger audience. Please chime in, assuming you have a personal interest.
I minored in Theology when attending The Catholic University of America back in the early 80′s. Since that time I have had a continuous interest in the foundations of the Bible, it’s books and writers. This Post is not faith based or meant to be religious oriented. Rather it is something I find of great interest and worthy of debate.
My question that I posed was:
“Are the sayings of Jesus, recorded in the Gospels of any more importance than the works of Paul? An added question to this would be, are the writings of the Disciples of any more importance than the writings of the Apostles? I have heard the answer that “All scripture is inspired, but this is not the answer I need to understand their argument of equality.”
One of the comments in the discussion that really brought some clarity to me was the following. I dont have the writers permission to quote his name (honestly did not ask yet) but I hope to get him in this Discussion also.
“The New Testament, better known as The Writings of The Apostles is not “The Scripture”. Whenever “The Scriptures” is referenced in “The New Testament” it is referring to what you call “The Old Testament.” Every Apostle in The Bible would sternly rebuke you for attempting to make their writings Scriptures. Jesus made it perfectly clear what The Scriptures are. The Bible (Old and New) is “The Word of God” just as what you preach on Sunday should be “The Word of God”. But…The Word of God is not The Scriptures even-though The Scriptures are The Word of God…. Acts 4:31, Acts 6:2, Acts 6:7, Acts 13:5, Heb 4:12, Heb 11:3, etc. All of Paul’s teaching had their basis in The Scriptures as evident by Acts 26, Acts 18:28, Acts 17:11 and 2 Peter 3:16 which clearly is not referring to Paul’s writings as Scripture but fits the truth that Paul taught everything from The Scriptures including The Body of Christ, Resurrection and The last Days ( and everything in between 
Our current Bible consists of these parts (in part – does not include subsets): The Scriptures The Narratives of Jesus’ Life The Writings of the apostles Thank You for giving these word a few moments of your time. God Bless You”
Care to Comment?
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