Theos-Talk Archives (October 1996 Message tl00096)

Hi Jerry --

On October 06, you wrote to Alan (regarding the Isis Unveiled thread),

>I felt that a critical discussion with
>Abrantes concerning ISIS would be worth while, and be a
>substantive contribution to theos-l.  After all, HPB raises a lot
>of questions concerning Christianity that few people think to
>ask.  Frankly, I was a bit disappointed to find almost no
>participation in this discussion.  Perhaps there are only three
>of us on theos-l who are interested in primitive Christianity and
>its origins.  Or, perhaps, there are only two or three of us on
>theos-l who are interested in this subject *and* are not
>threatened by a critical discussion of Christianity.

Or perhaps, there are also those of us who follow along with some interest
but do not have the background to bring much of substance to the discussion.

On Oct 02, you wrote to Abrantes,

>Don't the passages you have chosen really help to illustrate HPB's statement
>rather than contradicting it, when she writes:
>"He termed himself the son of God, but took care to assert repeatedly that
>THEY WERE ALL THE CHILDREN OF GOD, who was the heavenly father of all."
>But all of this still evades the point that HPB was making in this
>paragraph i.e., where in the Bible does Jesus' disciples regard him as God?
>Jerry

Specifically, Matthew 16:13 (Luke 9:18, etc.).  It all hinges on the
definition of Christ, doesn't it?  And on "the words put into the mouths of
Peter, Paul, etc.," as you say.

Regardless of the validity of any particular Gospel when compared with other
sources "not of the so-called sacred texts", removing Christ's divinity in
the eyes of the disciples rather eliminates the significance of the
Transfiguration on the Mount, wouldn't it?  And you lost me on your
reference to the ascension: doesn't your question about the separative
entity that Christ was ascending to be with sort of skip over the part that
he was ascending in the first place?  Not an everyday thing! (Elijah and
chariots notwithstanding.)

Regards,
Jim