"While I have sufficient academic qualifications in social science, they cannot explain everything in Heaven and Earth."

Well not yet but science is the path that will get us there not belief in the supernational. The enlightenment was and is all about shedding light on ignorance, as opposed to worshipping it. What the Author is trying to do is understand how Christianity can fit in with our new knowledge, how it can be refreshed and reviewed in light of realities of the world in which we live. I'm an atheist so don't agreed with him, but I respect his efforts and his motives. BD on the other hand is one who would belittle humanity destroy what we have built

If I get you right, Boaz, you are intimating that I did not mention that the early Middle East Moslems were dually infuenced by both Greek philosophical reasoning and the Islamic faith.

My earlier Posts should have told you that, especially the genuine history about St Thomas Aquinas accepting reports of travelling Arab scholars spreading the message about the benefits of believing in both Greek philosophical reasoning and faith in either Islam or Christianity.

It is so sad that though Aquinas became a Saint as well as a Doctor of Philosophy, coupled with his more earthly message progressing the Christian West into the Ages of Reason and Enlightenment, his contribution to today's Western thought has never been mentioned over the Pulpit.

My former Post, of course, tells how while we gained out of the faith-reason duality, Islam unfortunately retreated into a more vengeful faith as the West grew more successful, but purportedly too hegemonic.

BODY AND SAUL

Sells provides very interesting posts and for this, I feel he should be commended. The high number of responds demonstrate interest in OLO community. That said, Sells tends to (a) not stand back from the locus of studies and (b) to show old issues --as newly revealed--. recent author cited posits.

The conflict in this article is not new, somehow just brought about by (a) our twenty century knowledge of the Cosmos and (b) “JC’s bones are ‘ molt’n in the grave, but His truth goes marching on’” or should that be The Ascension?

Sells turn back your clock to c.60-64, on the cusp of the First Judaic-Roman War. Paul is trying to convert the Corinthians, after the earlier Jesus sects have already placed emphasis on “The Body”. Jews of the First Century Diaspora tended to a little out of the mainstream and to develop their own customs. Herein, the idea of things happening to a “dead” body may not have been quite as revolting to those guys, as to more orthodox Jews. So, perhaps, Paul could have some sway as a Christian Jewish Sect.

In Corinth (letters to), Paul had an almost impossible job. And as Sells alludes, Paul has largely failed. The conceptual strategies of the Christian Judaism were theocentric, ethical and vita activa BUT the conceptual strategies of the Hellenistic influenced Corinthians was cosmocentric, cognitive and vita contemplativa. Totally, different world views.

Paul tried hard to meld the Jesus sect view of the emphasising the Body WITH the Greek ideal of the Spirit being have ascendance over the Body in spirit-body dualism.

It didn’t work then, and doesn’t work now.

Resurrection of dead bodies, when it was to occur in the End Time, was a Jewish apocalyptic thing, so, the Christian Jew had some idea of the resurrection concept; but the Greeks would have been toally perplexed. Hence, we are left by Paul with some malformed spirit-body composite, with people being members of the body of Christ and congregations of the People of Christ… allusions to the Greek Body Politick.

WHAT ABOUT ME?

We plebs also have the issue becoming spirits OR raptured at the Eschaton. Please don't let Paul write the Script.

DID JESUS USE LISTERINE?

Where is the breath of Jesus?

Technically, we should be breathing-in a few atoms every second, if His breath wasn’t resurrected. Thirty-three years and a real talker! There should be plenty of those atoms going around.

Alternatively, if the atoms contained in Jesus’ breath left our universe… According to the Law of the Conversation of Charge in Quantum Mechanics, some poor anti-particles in other universe have, pooff!!, gone. Hope, such an occurrence, would not have led to the demise of an anti-creature or the collapse of a negative energy bridge.

LOOK UP IN THE SKY! NO, ON THE GROUND!

Maybe, He is not in “low orbit” [now] nor in Palestine. If the orbit decayed, He must have fallen back to Earth and have been taken to Area 51. Of course, the World’s governments would have suppressed this event. So, there is no reference in the Bible or Project Blue Book.

Mulder’s chain smoking forensic scientist contact, however, suggests, such matters, (a) can only be discussed in underground car parks, and, (b) Messiahs, after re-entry, are nude, have big heads, enormous eyes, slit mouths, no genitals and little bodies.

Alleged post mortems by the US Air Force on returned and transfigured Messiahs are denied by Canberra, Washington and the Vatican. Only people whom can’t focus cameras are willing to come forward.

If Jesus would have had either a two or twenty inch penis somebody would have noticed and it would have been so written.

I suppose I continue to remain open to the fact that Jesus of Nazereth may have been a person who lived on planet Earth. Perhaps Jesus was just trying to be some sort of good bloke who didn't die from the crucifixion but was patched up by some friends and went to live to a ripe old age in Kashmir. Naturally, of course he would have told his mates he would come back some day to pay a visit but he never did so.

The formative influences on his life during his "wilderness years" (13 to 30) are of necessity significant but without such "divine revelation" we are forced to have trust and faith. WHY is process and any understanding of causality simply not needed? That is my concern.

One can only speculate about the early Jesus but this emphasis upon the suffering Jesus, his teachings and bits of magic suggest an enlightenment ......... i.e. A Buddhist enlightenment with its Four Noble Truths (concerning suffering) and the Noble Eightfold Path. If Buddhists often speak of the teaching of Buddha as "a finger pointing to the moon" then Christianity only saw the finger which helps to explain that while Jesus may have said he was a son of teddy (i.e. an enlightened person), Christianity comes out with magic that he was THE (only) son of teddy. (AND, forget that one is to see and pay attention to that to which the finger points.)

It is not hard to imagine that Jesus has simply become some artificial construction based on a great deal of inventiveness by teddy cheerleaders where finagling is endemic and a necessary requirement ....... which simply perpetuates this ocean of frothing delusion where one increasingly sees more religious impediments to clear thinking.