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Since he’d never seen Jesus before, how did he know it was him?
(Andrew): Don’t be silly! He had holes in his hands and ankles.
Jeeez…
You’d think someone able to rise from the dead could heal a few little scars, lol.
Right! Christians are always insisting that they are going to be good as new in heaven even if they are a total wreck when they die. Like, even minor problems. Who would want to spend eternity with eczema for example?
Who would want to spend eternity .....?
Right! So you’re greeted by seven beautiful virgins and then you find out that they have to remain virgins. Or else they all get pregnant, one after the other. Or . . .
I guess I meant to say that, in the Bible, the storyline in Acts is clear that the voice is obviously Jesus. However, I don’t accept Luke’s word as being historically true, since the rest Acts, like the Gospel of Luke, is a collection of oral traditions (tales) that had been passed down. Acts may have been written around AD60, which is a full generation after the crucifixion.
As for Paul’s own words, he says that Jesus appeared to him (as to others) in Corinthians. There is no detail from Paul. I guess he could have been flat out making it up for effect, or he could have been sincerely mistaken (a hallucination). I think it is unlikely that someone pretended to be Jesus or that another guy named Jesus happened by at the moment of Paul’s spiritual epiphany. I take it on face value that Paul really thought he was visited by Jesus.
I guess I meant to say that, in the Bible, the storyline in Acts is clear that the voice is obviously Jesus. However, I don’t accept Luke’s word as being historically true, since the rest Acts, like the Gospel of Luke, is a collection of oral traditions (tales) that had been passed down. Acts may have been written around AD60, which is a full generation after the crucifixion.
As for Paul’s own words, he says that Jesus appeared to him (as to others) in Corinthians. There is no detail from Paul. I guess he could have been flat out making it up for effect, or he could have been sincerely mistaken (a hallucination). I think it is unlikely that someone pretended to be Jesus or that another guy named Jesus happened by at the moment of Paul’s spiritual epiphany. I take it on face value that Paul really thought he was visited by Jesus.
Of course Paul was referring to the Jesus. I was being facetious. My understanding is that he wrote that his traveling companions saw the light but didn’t hear the voice. It’s rather pointless to even discuss the possibility of literal legitimacy of the event, any of the supernatural events as relayed in the Bible, as if anyone can verify and resolve the propositions. We simply have to use our knowledge base of reality and the construction of the Universe and human mind to make the determination. The real facts of the matter are that none other of what the human body and mind is verifiably capable of really applys. That leaves us in the realm of story, myth, fiction, belief and faith.
C’mon, he said, “I am Jesus…”
Well, at least Luke wrote that he said that.
Thousands of people in each generation really do think they are Jesus. Remember, the Bible Jesus said he’d be back soon.
People who think they are Napoleon sometimes stand with one hand tucked under their coat and maybe fashion a cocked hat out of newspaper. People who think they are Jesus sometimes go so far as to puncture their hands and feet, wear sandals and a robe, carry a shepherd’s crook, and sport long hair and beard like the popular Sunday-school portraits. There may be one ranting in Hyde Park right now.
There were a lot of people named Jesus in the fertile crescent in the first century CE. The creator of the universe could have been more original.
If God was more original I don’t think he’d have copied all the characteristics of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman deities when he sent Jesus. Plagiarizing the exploits of made-up miraculous beings . . . I dunno . . . Now, how Joseph Smith came to write the Book of Mormon! There’s originality!
I think being kind to one’s enemies is original, but Christians put people like that in front of a firing squad, electrocute them, or tar and feather them and have them run through a 500 foot gauntlet of swinging truncheons. Mel Gibson could make a movie about it.
C’mon, he said, “I am Jesus…”
Well, at least Luke wrote that he said that.
Thousands of people in each generation really do think they are Jesus. Remember, the Bible Jesus said he’d be back soon.
People who think they are Napoleon sometimes stand with one hand tucked under their coat and maybe fashion a cocked hat out of newspaper. People who think they are Jesus sometimes go so far as to puncture their hands and feet, wear sandals and a robe, carry a shepherd’s crook, and sport long hair and beard like the popular Sunday-school portraits. There may be one ranting in Hyde Park right now.
It wasn’t Paul that said “I am Jesus,” it was the voice he heard identifying itself. And supposedly others at the scene heard the voice too. Soon after, a man named Ananias had a vision that Jesus told him to go to Paul and place his hands on him to restore his sight, which he did.
Again, this is the circulated tale, written about 30 years after the event.
Your point is noted that it is not uncommon for people to be mistakenly convinced that they have heard God’s voice or even that they are Jesus.
It wasn’t Paul that said “I am Jesus,” it was the voice he heard identifying itself. And supposedly others at the scene heard the voice too.
Is that right? I’m almost certain that I read a scholarly review that said he reported that his companions witnessed the light only, but no one else heard the voice. Oh well, no biggie ... or should I shout hallelujah and BELIEVE now!? ____Now? ____Now?
Hold on! Satan just showed up. I gotta go slap him around some.
Actually, he has to spend hours sitting in make-up with his fx man.
