Christianity is dying out in the West

[Guest guest]

Christianity Dying In The West?

 

Posted October 4, 2005

Organiser

October 09, 2005

By M.S.N. Menon

 

Christianity is dying in the West. But it is springtime for Christianity in Asia and elsewhere. A Paradox? No. The Pope himself says so.

According to Pope Benedict, "there is no longer evidence in the western world for a need of God, even less of Christ."

 

Dear Hindu reader, are you listening? Do you know the implications of what he says? Perhaps not. But you should know-Christianity is in decline in the West because the West is ashamed of the Christian God Yahweh, who used to drink human blood, and it is flourishing in Asia because Asians are still under the spell of religion.

 

But how is one to account for the loss of faith in Jesus Christ? Because there is increasing evidence that he never existed, because it is now discovered that the life of Jesus was built on lies by St. Paul.

 

What is more, Yahweh has remained a jealous God, a God who rewarded and punished. And he was too closely associated with the Jewish race to become a God of mankind.

 

Today we have about 100,000 monographs on Jesus Christ. But we know almost nothing about the man! His life was deliberately kept a secret by the church. And St. Paul created a Jesus to suit his own objectives.

 

But are there other records to go by? Very few. Most were destroyed by the church. Pliny, the younger, mentions a sect called Christians, but never of Jesus Christ. Jesus does not even appear in the book of the Jewish historian Josephus, called Jewish Antiquities (published in 93 a.d.). The Jewish writer Justus lived in Tiberias, where Jesus was supposed to have lived often. But, he, too, never mentions the name of Jesus. Philo of Alexandria, another contemporary of Jesus, was a specialist on Jewish sects. But he too never mentions the name of Jesus. It is clear from all these that perhaps Jesus never lived, and if he lived at all, he was an insignificant person. It was St. Paul who built up the Christ figure. But today very few are willing to accept the Jesus Christ of St. Paul.

 

It is this lack of proper evidence of his life and work, which made Ian Wilson, author of Jesus: The Evidence conclude: "There is scarcely a crumb of information to compel a belief in Jesus' existence." Rudolf Bultmann, the greatest New Testament theologian of the 20th century, almost said the same thing. Ernest Kasemann, a specialist on the New Testament at the Tubingen University, says of the research on the life of Jesus: "One is overwhelmed by how little of the accounts about Jesus in the New Testament can be called authentic!

 

So, what passes for "Christianity "is the work of St. Paul. William Nestle, a Church historian, writes: " Christianity is the religion founded by St. Paul. It replaced Christ's gospel with a gospel about Christ."

 

Modern theologians and researchers in religious history believe that the Central tenet of salvation through the death and suffering of Jesus has been a deliberate misinterpretation by Paul. He is also the author of anti-feminism in Christianity. He says:" It is good for a man not to touch a woman." Which is why Mary Magdalene was made into a prostitute. Paul is also the author of the concepts of Original sin and Trinity. In short, Paul produced a totally distorted message of Jesus. The trouble with the Bible, says Professor, Whitehead, “has been its interpreters, who whittled down that sense of infinitude into finitude...and the first interpreter of the New Testament was the worst-Paul. True, Paul put Jesus on a pedestal and saved Christianity from being branded a minor Jewish sect.

 

If one is not sure about the existence of Jesus, what about the various claims made by the church on behalf of Christ? There is no evidence that Jesus died on the cross. A commission of Bishops (of York and Canterbury), after 16 years of research, declared that the Bible story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ was incorrect.

 

Similarly, a book based on a study by seven of Britain's foremost theologians said that Christ was neither divine nor an incarnate. Among the distinguished theologians, who authored the book was Prof. Canon Maurice Wiles, Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford. They said; "The historical Jesus never presented himself as incarnate."

 

Then, what is left of Christ and Christianity? Very little. Which is why the West is in no need of Christ. What is more, Darwin had already demolished the foundation of the Biblical story of Adam and Eve (Genesis).

 

The entire edifice of Christianity had thus fallen. But the empire of the church and its vested interests are so powerful they can withstand any adversity. "Pesudo-Christianity," says George Bernard Shaw, "was and will be fact-proof."

 

If Christianity is thus dying in the West, it cannot live and flourish in the East. Can it? It is for you Hindus to decide.

http://www.christianaggression.org/item_display.php?id=1128441626&type=articles

 

[Guest guest]

Christianity is dying in the west because the west are asking many questions and getting unsatisfactory answers. Plus there is no evidence to prove that Christ actually existed, whereas older religions such as Zorastrianism, Jainism and Buddhism there is proof that their founders existed.

 

Buddhism is growing in the west because it encourages questioning and logic and does not require a belief in God. It provides answers that satisfies many seekers and the Buddha was a real historical figure that actually lived. The school of Indian Buddhists are probably the most authentic Buddhist sect today as they were started by the Buddha himself.

[Guest guest]

Adi Shankaracharya was a million times cooler than buddha

[Guest guest]

IS and WAS

[Guest guest]

Here from freethinking Buddhist texts is the

greatest passage in all the religious literature

of the world:

 

Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced

as the authority, believe not because it is your national

belief, believe not because you have been made to believe

from your childhood, but reason truth out, and after you

have analyzed it, then if you find it will do good to one

and all, believe it, live up to it and help others to live up to it.

[Guest guest]

Buddha was a materalistic atheist...

 

So there is no differece between Buddhism ad atheism...

 

There is no even reincarnation in buddhism...By "reincarnation" Buddhists mean "different levels of life".. Buddhists believe that there is no soul so All of us will die forever..There is no life after death... That is all...

 

Buddhism=Materialism and Atheism...

 

[Guest guest]

I mean What is so special about Buddhism?

 

ıf you do not wan to believe God or afterlife or soul just embrace Atheism...Why became Buddhist? They are same thing anyway...

[Guest guest]

BUDDHISM

 

The religion's core beliefs

 

Core beliefs of Buddhism:

 

Buddhism, like most of the great religions of the world, is divided into a number of different traditions. However, most traditions share a common set of fundamental beliefs.

 

One fundamental belief involves reincarnation: the concept that one must go through many cycles of birth, living, and death. After many such cycles, if a person releases their attachment to desire and the self, they can attain Nirvana - a state of liberation and freedom from suffering.

 

 

The Three Trainings or Practices:

 

These three consist of:

 

1. Sila: Virtue, good conduct, morality. This is based on two fundamental principles: The principle of equality: that all living entities are equal.

The principle of reciprocity: This is the "Golden Rule" in Christianity -- to do onto others as you would wish them do onto you. It is found in all major religions.

 

2. Samadhi: Concentration, meditation, mental development. Developing one's mind is the path to wisdom which in turn leads to personal freedom. Mental development also strengthens and controls our mind; this helps us maintain good conduct.

3. Prajna: Discernment, insight, wisdom, enlightenment. This is the real heart of Buddhism. Wisdom will emerge if your mind is pure and calm.

 

The first two paths listed in the Eightfold Path, described below, refer to discernment; the last three belong to concentration; the middle three are related to virtue.

 

 

The Four Noble Truths:

 

The Buddha's Four Noble Truths explore human suffering. They may be described (somewhat simplistically) as:

 

1. Dukkha: Suffering exists: (Suffering is real and and almost universal. Suffering has many causes: loss, sickness, pain, failure, the impermanence of pleasure.)

2. Samudaya: There is a cause for suffering. (It is the desire to have and control things. It can take many forms: craving of sensual pleasures; the desire for fame; the desire to avoid unpleasant sensations, like fear, anger or jealousy.)

 

3. Nirodha: There is an end to suffering. (Suffering ceases with the final liberation of Nirvana (a.k.a. Nibbana). The mind experiences complete freedom, liberation and non-attachment. It lets go of any desire or craving.)

 

4. Magga: In order to end suffering, you must follow the Eightfold Path.

 

 

The Five Precepts:

 

These are rules to live by. They are somewhat analogous to the second half of the Ten Commandments in Judaism and Christianity -- that part of the Decalogue which describes behaviors to avoid.

 

1. Do not kill. This is sometimes translated as "not harming" or an absence of violence.

 

2. Do not steal. This is generally interpreted as including the avoidance of fraud and economic exploitation.

 

3. Do not lie. This is sometimes interpreted as including name calling, gossip, etc.

 

4. Do not misuse sex. For monks and nuns, this means any departure from complete celibacy. For the laity, adultery is forbidden, along with any sexual harassment or exploitation, including that within marriage. The Buddha did not discuss consensual premarital sex within a committed relationship; Buddhist traditions differ on this.

 

5. Do not consume alcohol or other drugs. The main concern here is that intoxicants cloud the mind. Some have included as a drug other methods of divorcing ourselves from reality -- e.g. movies, television, the Internet.

 

 

The Eightfold Path:

 

The Buddha's Eightfold Path consists of:

 

Panna: Discernment, wisdom:

 

1) Samma ditthi Right Understanding of the Four Noble Truths

2) Samma sankappa: Right thinking; following the right path in life

Sila: Virtue, morality:

 

3) Samma vaca: Right speech: no lying, criticism, condemning, gossip, harsh language

4) Samma kammanta Right conduct by following the Five Precepts

5) Samma ajiva: Right livelihood; support yourself without harming others

 

Samadhi: Concentration, meditation:

 

6) Samma vayama Right Effort: promote good thoughts; conquer evil thoughts

7) Samma sati Right Mindfulness: Become aware of your body, mind and feelings

8) Samma samadhi Right Concentration: Meditate to achieve a higher state of consciousness

 

References:

1. Guy Newland, Untitled essay at: http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/

 

2. Bhikkhu Bodhi, "The Noble Eightfold Path. The Way to the End of Suffering," Buddhist Information, at: http://www.buddhistinformation.com/

 

http://www.religioustolerance.org/buddhism1.htm

[Hedied4us2live 0]

Those who make accusations that Christ did not exist are surprisingly ignorant of the facts.

the facts were recorded by eyewitnesses, who gave firtshand testimony to what they had seen and heard. "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life" ( 1 John 1:1 ).

Moreover, the existence of Jesus is recorded by the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, who was born in A.D. 37. " Now there was about this time, Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works -- a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles.

"He was (the) Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those who loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive agian the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day" ( Antiquities XVIII, III ).

Although this passage has been contested because of the reference to Jesus being the Christ and rising from the dead, the fact of His existence is not in question.

There are other references to Jesus or His followers, such as the Roman historian, Seutonius (A.D. 120 ) in life of claudius ( A.D. 112 ) in his Epistles, X, 96.

we know more about the life of Jesus Christ than about any other figure in the ancient world. His birth, life and death are revealed in much more detail than most ancient figures whose existence is taken for granted by historians.

[nekozuki 0]

Here is the truth. The Jesus story was stolen from the Egyptian god Horus and Lord Krishna, get over it please. The Christian devil's appearance was stolen from the Roman god Pan, your religion copied, face it. Some people just need to accept facts

[Guest guest]

Can you please present here any evidence you

have from the writings of secular historians

who lived in the region at the same time

Christ is supposed to have lived?

 

Please don't quote from the New Testament or

the writings of church historians and church

insiders. That's like using the false to

prove the false is true.

 

There were many able, secular historians living

in the area at the time of Christ. They wrote

about life, people, places, events, religious

sects, influential leaders and personalities

of their time. If Christ was a real person of

distinction, many secular writers and historians

would have written about him.

 

If you have anything from the Roman state records,

for example, about the trial and crucifixion,

please present it here.

 

It won't to do to say there are references to

Christ here in this source and or there in

another source. Name the source, the author,

the date of publication and reproduce the exact

content here, please.

 

Thank you.

 

[Guest guest]

Uhhhh... scholar! The person quoted from Flavius Josephus who wasn't a Christian but a Jew and a Roman historian. He was completely independant from the church.

[Guest guest]

It's funny to me when people talk about "evidence" that Christianity is an "invention of Paul" or false or what ever. People who put forth these theories always say that they evidence from "scholars" etc. But those same "scholars" whom they quote to discount Christianity would probobly discount Hinduism as well using their same modernistic materialistic so-called "methods of scholarship". Why don't you quote the "scholars" in regards to Hinduism?

 

In other words, you use the so-called "scholars" selectively because you already have a pre conceived idea about what you wish to be true.

[Guest guest]

I don't approve of battles of scholars... it rests merely on arguments of authority. What's good in philosophy is that everyone can assess by himself an argument put by another person, but when it comes to a battle of scholars, usually there is no means for a non-scholar to know whether this or that scholar is right.

[Guest guest]

Early Christianity is well known for its

burning of libraries and also for its

forgeries.

 

The quote from Flavius Josephus is no quote

at all. It is a forgery by church insiders

and has been declared to be so by some of

the best of New Testament scholars. Among

the things they used to determine that the

passage is a forgery is that the style in

which it is written is significantly different

from Josephus's natural style and his other

writings. Some of the content is not what

you would expect from a historian like him.

You can use some of the search engines to

find out more about it.

 

If I remember correctly, Josephus was

writing Antiquities some 90 years or so

after the supposed death of Christ. In any

case, his is not an eyewitness account. Also

why just a paragraph or a mention here or

or a reference there? If Christ was a real

person, and he was what the New Tetstament

says he was, there would have been more

extensive written accounts of him.

 

In my response, I completely ignored the

quote because it is a forgery and often cited

by Christians to justify the historicity of

Christ. There were a number of other

historians who were living at the same as

Christ supposedly did. And they were highly

regarded. They don't even mention his name.

[Guest guest]

Flavius Josephus and the Gospel of Luke

 

 

http://members.aol.com/FLJOSEPHUS/LUKECH.htm

[Samkhya 0]

««« by some of the best of New Testament scholars »»»

 

Yes and the other ones said the contrary. Where does it lead us?

[Guest guest]

I don't understand why anyone wouldn't think that Jesus would be married to Mary Magdalene? It wouldn't necessarily prove or disprove that Jesus was the Son of God would it? After all, if not mistakened the Messiah wasn't supposed to die either. Look at the time period, you were to get married whether you were the son of God or not.

[Guest guest]

 

There is no evidence for a historical Jesus.

 

Josephus was a hardcore jew, one highy unlikely to have written about Jesus on a positive note. That quote is just another cunning interpolation, period.

 

The compelling reasons are the complete absence of the historical jesus in Paul's writings. Paul never speaks about Nazareth, Pilate or anything else that would be evidence of Jesus having actually lived on the planet a few years before his time. Instead, Paul's Jesus is a sipritual figure with whom he "communicates".

 

So the gospels (written after Paul) created a human Jesus to match Pau's descriptions in part and to fulfill the OTs prophecies in part. A Jesus who lived on earth, was killed and magically came back again.

 

Cheers

 

[Guest guest]

prem namaste

 

well it seems that what ever proof is placed before you, you christians will never believe. anyway you should visit this site www.jesusneverexisted.com . this site exposes this fraudulant "religion". if you care for the truth.

 

jai hind

 

narottam das

[Guest guest]

Narottam das,

 

Thanks for a very informative website. That website also talks about the stong Buddhist influence on Christianity and also the influence of Mithraism (a sect based on the Vedic god Mitra) from India which reached the Romans through their link with Persia.

 

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/buddha.html

 

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/Mithraism.html

 

Of course they missed out how the story of Christ's birth is similar to the story of Krishna's birth.

[narayanadasa 0]

Jai Sriman Narayana:

 

An Italian court going to decide whether Jesus existed or not.

 

http://headlines.sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14114365

[Guest guest]

{An Italian court going to decide whether Jesus existed or not.}

 

It's rather amusing and surprising that it's happening in the country where the catholic faith was born. If the result comes out that Jesus did exist, you can see why.

 

[Guest guest]

Christendom as a whole is well-behaved, tolerant and secular,

these days. Christianity does not have the venom and the

virulence it once viewed the rest of the world with. I think

what brought about this change is the Second World War which

Christian nations started and in which millions of Christians

perished.

 

But it remains a major world menace in many parts of the

world especially in poor nations and former colonies.

Certain foreign churches are financing terror in our own

country as in the Northeast. In other regions such as TN and

Kerala, foreign churches are creating a fifth column of

rice Christians - whose mission is to foment strife and enmity

between different religious communities, engage in illegal

conversions to increase their numbers and gain political

control. So in our specific national context, Christianity is not

a religion but a subversive political movement aided and

abetted by alien forces inimical to our pluralistic, secular

and democratic system of governance.

 

By and large, the world of Christianity in economically

developed nations is governed by secular laws, and the

rest of the world need not fear it. But Christianity's

manifestation in our own country is an ongoing threat to our

national well-being.

[paulindian 0]

 

sir,

 

you said christianity is dying out inthe west .But say sir, who said christianity is living in the west?is nt it that christianity is not living in the west or east as it lives inthe-souls(atma) that have accepted christ as the saviour(the bible says so).I think it is wrong to confine the gospel of christ to the west because the bible says the gospel as the only way to moksha---given to the mankind--- and what is gospel?.-it is the grace of god upon mankind that he has given the son to be sacrificed(yaga)for the mankind to enter mukti; more clearly eternity and that it is given to you not because of your eligibility but because of his grace and raksha is given to you by your-faith- and there lies the sinplicity and the availability of this godly grace to---every man---in this world as faith is a matter of the heart the temple of god . No man in this world is free from sin(pap)(papo aham... papa karma...papa athama...papa shambhava..)please note the chantings by the vaishnavik rishis. And if you want to say that christ and calvary was mere stories then can you point ot a more succesful way to moksha than what god has given?

 

thank you