Pleasure ;) . Lol Well i say Catholic church as an easy identifier for people to read , though of course you know that the Church of Constantinople had split form Rome before the reformation of Martin Luther and their teachings we're still differnet from that of Rome from the fall of teh Roman empire, be-gating the Greek and Russian Orthodox as we know them today;). Hmm interesting isn't it , Jesus the Christ doesn't mention original sin and an aposal , in a text possible written between 60-100 years after the event does , the the first council of Nicea takes it as doctrine , also ignoring many gnostic text's and gospels of Mary , and James, building themselfs in their first thousand years (converting which is another bad point in my books for Christianity , welcome people in but don;t go preaching or offering gold to teh king of Sweden to kidnap people to convert ;)) .
Naturally 1058 was a very key date but was the result of both cultural and communication problems!
Jesus does allure to original sin, take the Rich Young Man, a worthy, commandment following young chap... but still drawn to the darksdie of money over God. How do the Gospel rule out the draw to temptation? Okay much of the doctrine came from Ireaneaus and Augustine of Hippo and their writings, but not sure if you are refering to Aquinas or not? He was the one who really wrote about its inherent-ness and 'guilt' but teaching and doctrine has moved on much since then.
As for rejected Gospels, there must have been thinking behind that decision... Evangelists had purpose and for some reason tradition as well as the Council at Nicea decided what to include. Do you no think that if something was thought to be true, accurate, relevant and important that it could be easily suppressed in a time of oral tradition?!
If converting as bad point for you for Christianity, I dread to think what you think of Jehovah's Witnesses! (As much as I reject their teaching, I admire their faith - I'd be worried to knock on someone's door knowing I'd get a load of abuse!)
Not just the UK there are many parts of the world taking intellectual issue with (not just fudnie Atheists ) many faith's and espically the dogma of the HRE.
I suspect your right on the women part but as like many things a cultural , rather then religious idea (both Jesus and Mohamed are quoted as saying all are equal , as well as Moses) yet at the time the ancient world (Athenian Greece epically and then passing to Roman ) had a patriarchal outlook , oddly Sparta being the exception.
When Jesus was only truely Jewish because his mother was.... ;)
We often confuse being equal with being identical.
You see my issue with sin is surly it is accumulated by wrong doing (however you describe it ) also many have used the cop out of confession to absolve acts rather then take responsibility for what they do (death bed confessions being famous in the catholic sense), so the idea we are born with it to me is ridiculous , it strays to my mind very close to karma in Hinduism as an accumulated debt , of which of course has to be paid by salvation (in sacrificing your own avatar/self/son (one of the reasons for the trinity argument being they couldn't decide if Jesus was god/god incarnate or just a man with spark of divinity . The dying and resurrection idea very popular Egypt and Greece and Persia before the Kristos .
Cop out?!?! Try lying to God. He knows EVERYTHING! At least you can try and pull the wool over the eyes of your mum ;)
Read the story of the Prodigal Son (the basis for the Sacrament of Reconciliation) to see that you need to BE and ACT sorry before being forgiven.
'Death Bed Confessions' are non-sense if you have lead a bad life. But equally, I believe in a God of reconciliation and as such, if someone is truly sorry, they're in. I ask myself, if my God is SO great and has something SO good and is SO loving, he will act with such great compassion to ANYONE who seeks it.
We are NOT born with it and the Church makes that clear. We are NOT born with guilt, we are born with a tendency to do wrong....
The Trinity is very clear Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. Yup that doesn't work for you mathematicians, good job he was a one off.
Again, Christianity never ever claims to be totally original... the OT is littered with reference to other religions (indeed Abraham was the first one to 'kind of' get it was a monotheistic God!). Jesus was the NEW covenant, superseeding the old ones. IE 9 has just come out, it doesn't claim IE 8 didn't exist, but does claim to be the best yet! :D
As an aside have you seen the research into teh original word for cross , actually meaning rod , so possible Jesus was never tied to a cross but a pole (very common of the time rather then cruzifiction) ?
There is little evidence the Romans used crucifixion as commonly as once thought anyway. It is more than likely it was a pole nailed to a tree... why put a pole in the ground when there is already one there! Lok up Ankh as an ancient symbol at some point too... again it's not starting from sctrach ;)
Of course teh Trinity is also a popular concept again found in Norse , Judaism, Hinduism, Greek Olympian mythos as well . The 3 as one idea begetting all others . However where they change from (and all predate)Christianity is they have a feminine aspect , of which there is little mentioned in Christian doctrine , hence removing some would claim the right of female officials . Can't make baby's on your own chaps .
3 is a magic number and always has been from the earliest of early days. 3 is a beautiful perfect number - hence it is very popular as a lucky number! I think Christians will be the first to admit their religion is not totally original - I vaguely recall something about the Mass being based on the Last Supper which was a Passover meal or something...
On the baby front worth nothing the Jewish tradition is matriarchal and as such your true Jewish-ness is passed on through your mother - and perhaps why Jesus was born to a woman (and didn't just appear!) to prove his linage. God has no sex, neither does the Holy Spirit, and so it is only Jesus who does.... and as only 1 part of the 3 if he had been a woman, it would have been a 'feminine aspect'. ;)
There's also a school of thought that Mary Magdalene was the disciple whom Jesus loved more than the others. After all, it couldn't have been a male because homosexuality is a sin.
Regardless, it's clearly arcane to prevent women from becoming priests and forcing male priests to be celibate (at least with women, if not choirboys) - maybe if the Roman Catholic Church took a more enlightened view on birth control, celibacy and the need to avoid catching veneral diseases such as HIV would be less of an issue?
Pleas YB, from the start of time we've know there are a lot of different types of love.... I love Cheryl Cole differently to pizza, and differently again from SUFC, and again for my mate in the pub who bought me that last beer this eve and again from my mum! Indeed the Christian brotherly and sisterly love transcends all :) The Catholic priest is wholly dedicated to his parish.... if you were a priest and your wife or child was ill - would you be happy to go to a parishioner to pray with them in the middle of the night? It is a tough vocation, but one whereby you make a total commitment of service. 'Enlightened' view? The view that has lead to high rates of teenage pregnancy, higher rates of STD/STis than ever before? (I'm playing a bit devil's advocate here, as it's teaching I find hard, but equally when getting GCSE students to look at these issues they can see some very good reasons FOR keeping those teachings in place and they are sex-mad 16 year olds!). It's hard being traditional and not taking the 'easy option, but the Church does it.
Another that Mary and her brother Lazarus (they he of resurrection fame ) were a happy trinity of their own was also floating around. Being a good Jewish boy of course being married to learn any mysteries is essential, and going into the family business ;)
It is generally accepted that Jesus was not married, which was unusual and added to his 'individual' nature - it would have certainly helped his reputation to be a little odd ;)
I always thought that jesus was a muslim due to the beard thing going on.
500 odd years too early I'm afraid! ;)
