How do you respond to these statements?

  • Thread starter Thread starter deheister
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
D

deheister

Guest
Saw this posted on Facebook. How do you respond to these statements?

Jesus:
  • was a radical, nonviolent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks
  • wasn’t American and never spoke English
  • was anti-wealth
  • was anti-death penalty
  • was anti-public prayer (Matt 6:5)
  • was never anti-gay
  • never mentioned abortion or birth control
  • never called the poor lazy
  • never justified torture
  • never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes
  • never asked a leper colony for a co-pay
  • was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless community-organizing anti-slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew
 
Some of it’s true. Some of it’s irrelevant. Some of it’s downright wrong-headed.
 
I really don’t understand their point with:
“- wasn’t American and never spoke English”

I guess my response would be “who said he was and did?”
 
deheister said:
Saw this posted on Facebook. How do you respond to these statements?

Jesus:
  • was a radical, nonviolent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks
  • wasn’t American and never spoke English
  • was anti-wealth
  • was anti-death penalty
  • was anti-public prayer (Matt 6:5)
  • was never anti-gay
  • never mentioned abortion or birth control
  • never called the poor lazy
  • never justified torture
  • never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes
  • never asked a leper colony for a co-pay
  • was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless community-organizing anti-slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew
Click to expand...
Offer them higher education.
agapebiblestudy.com/About%20Agape%20Bible%20Study.htm
 
First, this person doesn’t know Jesus Christ given some of these statements are simply wrong.

Secondly, it is irrelevant in terms of Christian teaching if Christ was not quoted on a topic.

Lastly, people who fall for political comments like this don’t know Christ as well as they should and don’t know what Christianity teaches, and why, particularly what the Catholic Church teaches and why.

People who write these comments are simply interested in advancing their political agenda by using what they think are meaningful comments about Christ. Their arguments are incorrect, naïve , and ignorant, both politically and religiously.
 
deheister said:
Saw this posted on Facebook. How do you respond to these statements?

Jesus:
  • was a radical, nonviolent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks
  • wasn’t American and never spoke English
  • was anti-wealth
  • was anti-death penalty
  • was anti-public prayer (Matt 6:5)
  • was never anti-gay
  • never mentioned abortion or birth control
  • never called the poor lazy
  • never justified torture
  • never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes
  • never asked a leper colony for a co-pay
  • was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless community-organizing anti-slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew
Click to expand...
I don’t think he was homeless. I don’t know what you mean by anti-slut shaming Jew. If you are talking about the woman who was almost stoned to death for adultry, that’s even debatable that it was in the original gospel. He wasn’t American. These are pretty inane statements, what is the point?
 
I personally would not give a response because I can’t think of a loving one. It is such a gross misrepresentation. Sadly it is this type of rhetoric that people believe and are led astray.
 
Jesus:
-1) was a radical, nonviolent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks - well, kind of yes, what’s the point of this statement?
  1. wasn’t American and never spoke English - yes, what’s the point?
  2. was anti-wealth - no, he had no problem with wealth (Mary Magdalen and the perfumed feet, spent a great deal of time in parables speaking of personal property), he had a problem with putting wealth before God
  3. was anti-death penalty - more or less, yes, as should we Catholics be except in extreme circumstances, see writings of Pope John Paul II
  4. was anti-public prayer - no, was anti-hypocrite, not public prayer. He was arguing against hypocritical behavior if you read the whole thing in context
  5. was never anti-gay - well this depends on what is meant by anti-gay, if you mean anti-people-with-SSA, no and neither are we to be, if you mean anti-homosexual actions, he was Jewish, which taught against homosexual action, and while he did not specifically mention it, he was against sexual sin of all sorts. Additionally, as the Gospel writers were not today’s court transcriptionists, they only wrote about that which was most imperative, the teaching was more important then the book (See the last passages in John)
  6. never mentioned abortion or birth control - see previous comment, same thing
  7. never called the poor lazy - true, but we shouldn’t either, though we can speak the truth about individuals if it is to help them (judgement verses judgemental, former is necessary for living an upright life, latter is detrimental for doing so)
  8. never justified torture - true, neither does the Church nor should we
  9. never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes - true but pointless, note that the nature of wealth was different back then (barter, not coin was a more prevalent form of wealth sharing) also note that taxes were to the Romans not the Jews as a historical note
  10. never asked a leper colony for a co-pay - false, he asked them to repent, believe in God, and to follow the commandments (see previous comments on wealth), true if you mean money alone
  • was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless community-organizing anti-slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew - somewhat true. He may have had long hair (so what?), he likely had brown skin (so what), it is unlikely he was homeless (what about his parent’s home which would traditionally have been a home to him - still unimportant), he did lead people to God, but to call that community organizing in the modern understanding is a little deceptive, he taught forgiveness and to SIN NO MORE, which is not quite the same as anti-slut-shaming, especially as meant in the modern understanding, and of course he was a Middle Eastern Jew - really, so what?
 
deheister said:
  • was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless community-organizing anti-slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew
Click to expand...
Jesus’ home was in Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.

*and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper’na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb’ulun and Naph’tali, (Matthew 4:13)

And when he returned to Caper’na-um after some days, it was reported that he was at home. (Mark 2:1)*

It is utter ignorance of Scripture to claim that Jesus was homeless.

-Tim-
 
deheister said:
Saw this posted on Facebook. How do you respond to these statements?
Click to expand...
Jesus:
  • was a radical, nonviolent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks - Jesus was radical, and mostly nonviolent (except for his righteous fury when he kicked all the money changers out of the Temple), and He did spend time with lepers, adulterers and “sinners.” He wasn’t a revolutionary, though. He made it very clear that He came to suffer and die for our sins. He clearly stated that His kingdom was not of this world, appeasing Pontius Pilate’s fear that he was a revolutionary who was threatening Roman rule.
  • wasn’t American and never spoke English - Nope, He wasn’t American, and never spoke English. That’s true!
  • was anti-wealth - This is untrue. He was only anti-wealth insofar as it represented a stumbling block to Faith. He advocated that wealth should not come before God, certainly, but never said wealth in itself was evil. And actually, He advocated that the owners of wealth be free to do with that wealth as they choose.
  • was anti-death penalty - Not sure how He could be so, as He clearly accepted His own death penalty. In fact, He called Peter a Satan for telling Him not to say such things (that He would be put to death).
  • was anti-public prayer (Matt 6:5) - This is not true either. He was against public prayer wherein the person praying publicly did so to be seen as such. In other words, He was against hypocrisy, whereby people wanted to be seen as holy, even if they weren’t. He was actually pro-public prayer, and made that clear when He told his disciples that "wherever two or more are gathered in my name, I am in their midst."
  • was never anti-gay - The truth of this depends on what you mean by “gay.” If you mean “gay person/people” then no, Jesus wasn’t anti-gay (people). He loves everyone just the same. But if you mean “gay sex,” then here you would be incorrect. He said, “I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it.” And the Law clearly states that homosexual sex is an abomination.
  • never mentioned abortion or birth control - Nope. He didn’t. However, God did command Adam and Eve, and then again Noah after the Flood, to “be fruitful and multiply,” and as Jesus several times affirmed that He is Yahweh, then the simple reality is that He commanded mankind to be fruitful and multiply. So I guess you know what His stance on these things was, even if He never mentioned them specifically.
  • never called the poor lazy - Nope, He didn’t. In fact, He clearly advocated helping the poor whenever we could.
  • never justified torture - No, of course not.
  • never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes - Nope. Indeed, just the opposite. "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s."
  • never asked a leper colony for a co-pay - Pretty sure He didn’t. Then again, I’m not sure what a co-pay is. lol.
  • was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless community-organizing anti-slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew - He was probably long-haired, sure. He was probably tanned, but who’s to say how brown, exactly. I don’t think He was homeless. During His ministry, He certainly didn’t stay at home, but before that time He probably still lived in the home of His parents (only Mary, by that time). He wasn’t about community-organization. The only “organization” He advocated was to “follow [Him]”. I don’t think He would have called anyone a slut, nor was He really about “anti-adulterer-shaming” either. He certainly was against killing a repentant sinner by those who themselves are sinners. And certainly, He was a Middle-Eastern Jew.
All told, there’s a bunch in there that is true, a bunch in there that is outrightly false, and some stuff in there that doesn’t really matter. Bottom line, whoever made the Facebook post is historically ignorant.
 
deheister said:
  • was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless community-organizing anti-slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew
Click to expand...
It is utter ignorance of Scripture to claim that Jesus was homeless. Jesus’ home was in Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.

*and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Caper’na-um by the sea, in the territory of Zeb’ulun and Naph’tali, (Matthew 4:13)

And when he returned to Caper’na-um after some days, it was reported that he was at home. (Mark 2:1)*
deheister said:
  • was a radical, nonviolent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks
Click to expand...
Jesus never revolted against anyone but taught that we are to respect authority.

***Show me the money for the tax." And they brought him a coin. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” *(Matthew 22:19-21)

-Tim-
 
CHRISTINE77 said:
I don’t think he was homeless. I don’t know what you mean by anti-slut shaming Jew. If you are talking about the woman who was almost stoned to death for adultry, that’s even debatable that it was in the original gospel. He wasn’t American. These are pretty inane statements, what is the point?
Click to expand...
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t but it’s still inspired scripture. That was the reading last Monday and for the homily the priest talked about how they wanted the story included but it wasn’t long enough to be a book on it’s own so they put it in John’s Gospel during the part leading up to the passion. I didn’t second guess him, the Oblates of the Virgin Mary are very orthodox.
 
Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross is what mattered most, because He is fully God and fully Man.

A lot of these statements are false, irrelevant, or in line with Catholic teaching. But whoever said these objections clearly is wanting a “liberal Jesus” over a “conservative Jesus”, when the real Jesus is neither and doesn’t give a fart about petty, narrow-minded ideologies, regardless of what they are. Conservatives want Barabbas, liberals want no king but Caesar, and neither want a Messiah.
 
Secant said:
  1. was anti-death penalty - more or less, yes, as should we Catholics be except in extreme circumstances, see writings of Pope John Paul II
Click to expand...
He was himself subjected to the death penalty, and did not claim he should not have been.
[BIBLEDRB]John 19:10-11[/BIBLEDRB]
Secant said:
  1. never justified torture - true, neither does the Church nor should we
Click to expand...
Nor did he not condemn it.
[BIBLEDRB]Matthew 18:32-35[/BIBLEDRB]

:bible1:
tee
 
Tee_eff_em, thank you for your correction! I was assuming the question was meant as saying that anti-death penalty and anti-torture were meant as not encouraging their use. Jesus did not encourage their use. I forgot the nuance that means he decried their use. Jesus did accept their use by legitimate authority and as a culturally accepted form of punishment. This is correct and if that is what was meant by the OP (or at least their source), than I apologize for my lack of clarity. The response must have seemed from left field. 🙂
 
Jesus:
  • was a radical, nonviolent revolutionary who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks
    (Must’ve skipped the part where Jesus turns over the money tables in the temple)
  • wasn’t American and never spoke English
    (English was never around during the 1st century CE,)
  • was anti-wealth
  • was anti-death penalty
  • was anti-public prayer (Matt 6:5)
    (eg. to show off)
  • was never anti-gay
    (Sodom and Gomorrah?)
  • never mentioned abortion or birth control
    (Yeah it’s kind of tough to have abortions in 1st century CE. Infanticide would be more common and excepted in Rome and Greece.)
  • never called the poor lazy
  • never justified torture
  • never fought for tax cuts for the wealthiest Nazarenes
    (Give what is Caesar’s to Caesar’s?)
  • never asked a leper colony for a co-pay
  • was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless community-organizing anti-slut-shaming Middle Eastern Jew
    (Were not FOX News if that’s what your asking)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top