Philo,

I agree there is much positive morality and compassion presented in the the Gospels. The Sermon of the Mount, a prime example.

One quality missing, perhaps, in the modern Christian Church is humility. One does not see too Bishops working two days a week coal-face withe the indigent as reported of the Essenes (?) in the Dead Sea Scrolls. I don't see, say, Cardinal Pell donning overalls and cleaning a toilet for a park for the homeless.

Polycarp,

Hi David. How is is Jesse?

The period between the crucifixation and Nicaea we see an evolving religion. Jesus' alleged sacrafice has been posited by some believers, as a break with the Law of Moses, while remaing a Jewish religion. In effect we had Christian-Jews and I have mentioned to you in sevral posts there were fifteen Bishops of Jerusalem before Marcus the first non-Jewish bishop, whom formed a new religion to overcome the Hadrian's excile of, if you like, Jewish-Jews :-) from the Temple Mount. [Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]

For me, it is strange that Christian priests, ministers mention Augustus, Tiberius and Nero: mere backdrops. Yet, the most significant figure moving the Nazarines from Pella towards Nicaea was the sixteenth [Gentile] Bishop of Jerusalem's [in excile] response to Hadrian edict.

We move over three hundred years from the tether to Moses to the de-establishment of the Law owing to the alleged perfect justification [of Jesus] making the aforemention redundant ,to the re-establishment of dogma under the Council of Nicaea in 325 [via a half council in 190 and, a consolidation of the Trinity at Constantinople in 381].

The above is why I feel Church should be an open forum. Else, one has the priest/minister selecting the chocolates to eat and dashing between the rain drops of history.