A theological liberal made the following comment on this massive thread:
As to the documents, I prefer the oldest and assumed to be the most authentic of the 4 gospels, Mark, from which the others drew a lot of material. It was placed second in order behind Matthew, however, by the patriarchs, in hopes that it would be less often read, and it has worked out that way. Because as you know, it ends with the execution of Jesus for threatening the state with his teachings–there is no resurrection. That part was added at a later time.
I responded with the following points.
1. Christians know that all the Gospels are authentic.
2. If the early church was trying to hide the Gospel of Mark, they would have left it out, not “hidden” it behind Matthew.
3. The resurrection is in the earliest manuscripts of Mark. The potentially late additions are verses 9-20 (just check your footnotes).
And He didn’t threaten the Roman state with his teachings. He was brought to the Romans by the Jewish leaders.
Regarding Paul, she said:
To his credit, he never even claimed to have known Jesus, only to have had visions about him during his mysterious spasms.
Where does she get her biblical information? Does she have documentation for her claim that the patriarchs were trying to hide Mark, or is that just groundless speculation?
It is sad that she has been so wildly misinformed. I encourage her and others to actually read what the Bible says instead of just repeating sound bites from their “pastors.”
And these are the people who (along with Westar) are going to fix this nation’s issue with biblical literacy. I am sure there is a ditch nearby…
The ignorance of the LEFT in all things theological is astounding.
If you think the purpose of why Jesus lived and died was for “social justice” and not about God’s relationship to us and His plan for the salvation of all of us sinners, you probably need to read the Bible a bit more.
If you think all religions have equally valid paths to God and salvation, you probably need to read the Bible a bit more.
If you think OWS and Jesus basically were about the same thing, I think you need to read the Bible a bit more, especially John 14.16.