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Were can I Read about Jesus?

banned_crabbanned_crab Veteran
edited December 2013 in Arts & Writings
Whenever I look in the bible it just talks about john. I dont even know who John is, I just want to hear the story of Jesus in a style that is honest and beautiful. None of that plastic Jesus stuff.

Comments

  • Chapter: Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John
    blu3ree
  • Very little of the Bible talks about John. It's a huge book.
    Invincible_summerstavros388
  • BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
    hey, poor john gets his head chopped off and put on a platter and this is how you treat him... pfft.
    Invincible_summervinlyn
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    @heyimacrab - What books of the Bible are you reading?

    All of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) tell the story of Jesus, as @Jeffrey mentioned.

    There are also countless theological books on the topic.

    What do you mean by "plastic Jesus?"
  • Mathew is more from the perspective of Jesus fulfilling the Jewish law and prophesies.

    I forget what the others are known for, but I took a writing class where we wrote about the gospels.
  • The Dalai Lama wrote a fine book called 'The Good Heart'. You might appreciate it.
    A fine way to appreciate Jesus.
  • Jayantha said:

    hey, poor john gets his head chopped off and put on a platter and this is how you treat him... pfft.

    Hi Jay: Actually I think That John" the Baptist, doesn't have any books in the new testament. That John is the Apostle John.

  • which one has the best prespective? Is there any that talk about jesus before he became popular? How do I read about just Jesus growing up and his stories as leader?
  • Invincible_summerInvincible_summer Heavy Metal Dhamma We(s)t coast, Canada Veteran
    @heyimacrab - The Gospels are all written from different perspectives, some with parts that don't exist in the other accounts. So I wouldn't say there's just one definitive Gospel to read.

    Before he became popular? I'm not quite sure what you mean by that...

    The years between Jesus' visit to the temple as a child and his preaching are quite a mystery, and there are lots of theories as to what he did. Read about the "Unknown Years."
    riverflow
  • BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
    Dennis1 said:

    Jayantha said:

    hey, poor john gets his head chopped off and put on a platter and this is how you treat him... pfft.

    Hi Jay: Actually I think That John" the Baptist, doesn't have any books in the new testament. That John is the Apostle John.

    who remembers that guy ?:P
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Try the Jefferson Bible.
    banned_crab
  • vinlyn said:

    Try the Jefferson Bible.

    wow thanks this looks promising and its free

    I almost resorted to reading the quran, but the quran just tries to make me fear god so it wasnt very interesting.
  • vinlyn said:

    Try the Jefferson Bible.

    wow jefferson is brilliant so far, thanks alot man I woulda never found this in my whole life this is perfect.
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    If Christians and others could live by this tiny version of the New Testament, all would be well.
    riverflow
  • Were can I read about Jesus?
    If you are unlucky . . . everywhere.

    Fortunately some of us now have a choice . . . :nyah:
    John's is the most mystical of the Gospels
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historicity_of_Jesus
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatitudes
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited December 2013
    You weren't kidding..... :rolleyes:

    I suggest you google something like - the historical jesus - did he really exist? or objective views on the man called jesus.

    The bible basically gives 4 accounts of the man's life and mission, but given that these accounts were written anything over 100 years after Jesus' death, they're largely hearsay and fable. Writers had little material at their disposal for research then.
    For example, astronomers have worked backwards to calculate and identify the movement of stars, and the galaxy in general, and have worked out that the comet supposedly heralding Christ's birth, actually circled the earth, 6 years before Christs's documented birth. therefore strictly speaking, this should be 2019, not 2013. And the comet went over the Middle east in October, or April.
    December the 25th is an imaginary date for jesus' birth.....
    All this information is readily available.

    Mary was a young child of around 12 or so, when she fell pregnant with him. It's even possible she was the victim of rape by a Roman soldier, so this 'virgin' talk was all invented by the Catholic Council in around 440AD.
    There was an ancient legend from the Jewish side that Mary was the victim of a rape. They even gave us the name of the Roman soldier who was supposed to have carried out this rape: a man called Panthera, which apparently was quite a common name for Roman soldiers.

    Recently some scholars looked at this theory and decided it was simply an ancient slur, anti-Christian slander made up in the second century to try to prevent belief in Jesus. Some say that perhaps it isn't so impossible as previously we thought. There are certain clues in the New Testament to suggest that Mary was in quite a terrible state after the beginning of the pregnancy. The fact that she went in great haste to see Elizabeth. The fact that she talks about herself as a "lowly handmaid": why is she lowly? Some people believe the lowliness was because she was actually the victim of a crime.

    The strength of the idea is that just as Jesus in his crucifixion identifies with those who suffer, Mary, as victim of rape, is somebody that women who suffer can identify with.

    The problem of the theory is that Jesus could have been the son of a Roman soldier, which is even more unpalatable for people than the idea that Mary wasn't a virgin. The idea that Jesus was somehow genetically dependent upon a rapist is more difficult to swallow and it would take a tremendous radical leap of faith to accept that kind of theory.
  • The four canonical Gospels (that is the four in the Christian Bible today: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) were all written several years after Jesus' three-year ministry and death. And they weren't literally written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John-- and this is not some radical Jesus Seminar talk-- scholars have known this since the 1800s. Mark (believed to be the earliest of these four Gospels) originally ended with the burial of Jesus-- the resurrection was tacked on later. Again, this is nothing new-- I had an old Catholic Bible that had no problem mentioning this in the footnotes. And the Gospel of John, the three epistles from John, and Revelation (which claims is written by John) are not the same John (and none of them to be confused with John the Baptist). In fact, whoever write Revelation had bad grammar and wasn't very good with the Greek language.

    The Gospels are not to be read as "biographies" with factual information about a person named Jesus. This becomes especially apparent in the Gospel of John, which reads very differently from the other three. The Gospels is a mixture of biography and symbolism-- really more like a hagiography (in the original non-pejorative sense of the word). If you read the Gospels as a modern day reader without this historical and cultural awareness, very little of the text will make sense-- or at any rate, it will be misunderstood big time. Even many Christians make this same mistake.

  • BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
    vinlyn said:

    If Christians and others could live by this tiny version of the New Testament, all would be well.

    and if Buddhists could live by the teachings of the dhamma..

    now lets play John Lennon's "Imagine" and all hold hands :)
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    The LATimes once did a story that tried to figure out what Jesus actually looked like. The story consulted pretty serious scholars who came up with: A nut brown (that's brown, not pink) man of about five feet, six or eight inches. Sinewy. I forget the other best-guesses.

    And a fairly serious TV program about Jesus (smart people, not just believers) suggested that, far from being a rag-tag poor man, Jesus was probably pretty middle-class. He probably spoke three languages in aid of plying his carpenter's trade ... any tradesman needed such skill in order to sell his wares and put spaghetti on the table.

    And as for the missing years, the years when Buddhists love to speculate that Jesus made a trip to India or some other Hindu or Buddhist clime, the best I can come up with is singer John Prine's take.
    riverflowMaryAnne
  • genkaku said:

    The LATimes once did a story that tried to figure out what Jesus actually looked like. The story consulted pretty serious scholars who came up with: A nut brown (that's brown, not pink) man of about five feet, six or eight inches. Sinewy. I forget the other best-guesses.

    And a fairly serious TV program about Jesus (smart people, not just believers) suggested that, far from being a rag-tag poor man, Jesus was probably pretty middle-class. He probably spoke three languages in aid of plying his carpenter's trade ... any tradesman needed such skill in order to sell his wares and put spaghetti on the table.

    And as for the missing years, the years when Buddhists love to speculate that Jesus made a trip to India or some other Hindu or Buddhist clime, the best I can come up with is singer John Prine's take.

    John Prine is one obscure reference. I love it!
    riverflowstavros388
  • John Prine is mah man. Heard him for the first time when I was about 15. Love him!
    riverflowstavros388
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    genkaku said:


    And a fairly serious TV program about Jesus (smart people, not just believers) suggested that, far from being a rag-tag poor man, Jesus was probably pretty middle-class. He probably spoke three languages in aid of plying his carpenter's trade ... any tradesman needed such skill in order to sell his wares and put spaghetti on the table.

    Oh yes, he was far from poor.
    For starters, his (earthly) father easily got his hands on a donkey; the-then equivalent of a good-sized family station wagon, to ride into Bethlehem. Most people walked everywhere, or borrowed a donkey from a neighbour (remember, Jesus 'borrowed' a donkey to ride into jerusalem.....)
    And it's not as if Joseph couldn't afford to stay in an inn; There was simply no room for them. But money he did not lack. Heck, he was a carpenter; everything in those days was either wooden or clay.....

  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    Jayantha said:

    vinlyn said:

    If Christians and others could live by this tiny version of the New Testament, all would be well.

    and if Buddhists could live by the teachings of the dhamma..

    now lets play John Lennon's "Imagine" and all hold hands :)
    Actually, you appear to be missing my point. The Jefferson Bible eliminates the Old Testament completely. Then reduces the New Testament so drastically that the hard cover book version is about the size of a CD case. Jefferson tried (though not totally successfully) to eliminate all miracles and magic and get down to a simple relation of the bare bones doctrine of Jesus.

    Hey, now there's a project for you, reduce down the Dhamma to the bare bones to volume you could read in...oh, say 30 minutes.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    It already has been.
    That's what the Dhammapada is.
  • SilouanSilouan Veteran
    edited December 2013
    It depends on what you really are seeking.

    If you are seeking a historic truth about Jesus, for whatever purpose, then you have a seemingly endless supply of speculative writings to choose from, and can approach the New and Old Testaments as you see fit even discarding parts or both of them all together.

    However, if you are seeking Jesus as the Truth then a certain interpretation is required where there is no dichotomy between both the New and Old Testaments.

    I recommend listening to this challenging lecture for a perspective that is contrary to the mindset we are familiar with in the west.

    youtube.com/watch?v=Gy-gCEWh5-4

    Will the real Buddha... I mean Jesus please stand up!
    lobsterriverflow
  • With all respect,@Silouan, the so-called "Old Testament" is nowhere about Jesus who, for obvious chronological reasons, only appears in the New.
  • With all respect,@Silouan, the so-called "Old Testament" is nowhere about Jesus who, for obvious chronological reasons, only appears in the New.

    The old testament has to be read in the context of the New Testament, else it won't make sense. For instance, Isaiah's words: "He was crushed for our iniquities ....... by his stripes we are healed." It should be interpreted in the context of Jesus's subsequent incarnation (and his healing of the world). Or Psalms (My god, why have you forsaken me) must be read with Jesus' "It is finished" on the cross as a fulfillment, etc etc. So everything in the OT forebodes Christ's deeds, death, sacrifice, in the NT, and we must see it accordingly.
  • betaboy said:

    With all respect,@Silouan, the so-called "Old Testament" is nowhere about Jesus who, for obvious chronological reasons, only appears in the New.

    The old testament has to be read in the context of the New Testament, else it won't make sense. For instance, Isaiah's words: "He was crushed for our iniquities ....... by his stripes we are healed." It should be interpreted in the context of Jesus's subsequent incarnation (and his healing of the world). Or Psalms (My god, why have you forsaken me) must be read with Jesus' "It is finished" on the cross as a fulfillment, etc etc. So everything in the OT forebodes Christ's deeds, death, sacrifice, in the NT, and we must see it accordingly.
    This is a solely Christian interpretation of the Tanakh which makes sense entirely on its own to Jews.

    federicaEvenThirdriverflow
  • betaboy said:

    With all respect,@Silouan, the so-called "Old Testament" is nowhere about Jesus who, for obvious chronological reasons, only appears in the New.

    The old testament has to be read in the context of the New Testament, else it won't make sense. For instance, Isaiah's words: "He was crushed for our iniquities ....... by his stripes we are healed." It should be interpreted in the context of Jesus's subsequent incarnation (and his healing of the world). Or Psalms (My god, why have you forsaken me) must be read with Jesus' "It is finished" on the cross as a fulfillment, etc etc. So everything in the OT forebodes Christ's deeds, death, sacrifice, in the NT, and we must see it accordingly.
    This is a solely Christian interpretation of the Tanakh which makes sense entirely on its own to Jews.

    It may make sense, but the mystical as well as historical element will be lacking.
  • It is all enough to send you stark, raving, Shemhamphorasch
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shemhamphorasch

    Because different vowels can be added to change Hebrew meanings, the study of Kabbalah is normally restricted to devout, well adjusted, family men. Women have got better things to do . . .
    However never underestimate Madonna or Neo-Kabbalah.

    . . . and now back to the other Word . . .
  • matthewmartinmatthewmartin Amateur Bodhisattva Suburbs of Mt Meru Veteran
    Well, to really know Jesus, start with Osris. It doesn't sound impossible for they guy to have existed, but the people who recorded his life had no journalistic integrity and had no problem merging his life story with other middle eastern myths, making stuff up, contradicting themselves an so on.

    I greatly enjoyed A. L. De Silva defense of Buddhism/attack on evangelical Christianity, "Beyond Belief" (google). You might guess that I'm not a universalist, imho, religions and things that look like them are not all the same, some are worse and some are more harmful to Buddhist goals than others.

    That said, there are several books comparing Pure Land Buddhism with Christianity, esp Jodo-Shinshu. TNH has a book attempting to connect the dots, too.
  • SilouanSilouan Veteran
    edited December 2013
    @simonthepilgrim My point is that the fullness of interpretation that Christ is the Truth within the community of the New Testament Church requires both the Old and New Testaments as part of her theology. She is very much aware of her roots, and that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. The Old is fulfilled in the New.

    Searching the scriptures and other sources for the historical authenticity of events so as to reveal the truth or not is quite another thing than seeing the parting of the Red Sea and Moses ascent on Mt Sinai occurring right now in this very moment in one’s heart as Truth now and then.
    This is a solely Christian interpretation of the Tanakh which makes sense entirely on its own to Jews.
    There is no denial of this, and of course the Jews still maintain their own interpretations of their own traditions. Some are even awaiting the Messiah to come and restore the temple, so that they may once again observe their religious practices to their own fullness as before.

    My understanding of what @betaboy said is that the Christian reads the scripture of the Old Testament illuminated by the mind of Christ and sees Him there.

    With regards to the Jefferson Bible I think the man’s approach to the New Testament is clearly a product of the reductionism of the reformation and all the private interpretation that goes with it.

    He should have at least cut out Christ’s words on the Cross “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” from Matthew 27:46, but to me it is clear he left it in because he did not truly understand its significance or importance.

    Psalm 22:
    My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

    O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

    But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

    Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

    They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

    But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.

    All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,

    He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.

    But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.

    I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.

    Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

    Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.

    They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.

    I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

    My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.

    For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

    I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.

    They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

    But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.

    Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.

    Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.

    I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

    Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.

    For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

    My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

    The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

    All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

    For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.

    All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.

    A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

    They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
    Well, to really know Jesus, start with Osris.
    Yes, all things are fulfilled in Him. “…It is finished” John 19:30
  • BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
    edited December 2013
    found a link to this video and it took the full 40 minutes(start around 37 if interested) to get to the point about jesus and Buddhism(the title of the show is actually did Jesus really die on the cross), but it's quite interesting a concept.

    I had heard the concept about the theory of jesus learning buddhism in his "missing" years, but this bbc show talks about a theory of the 3 wise men who visited jesus actually being buddhist monastics in search for the reincarnation of their dead teacher(I'm not sure that practice was around 500 years after the buddha yet, but still interesting) and therefore they took him to india to be taught.

    So apparently after jesus survived the crucifixion(which actually did happen fairly often in those days, it took days for you to die and friends could come take you down) he went back to the east and lived out the rest of his days continuing to preach ;).

    its all speculation, but it makes you go "hmmm"..


    blu3ree
  • vinlynvinlyn Colorado...for now Veteran
    You can read the entire Dhammapada in 30 minutes?????
    betaboy said:

    With all respect,@Silouan, the so-called "Old Testament" is nowhere about Jesus who, for obvious chronological reasons, only appears in the New.

    The old testament has to be read in the context of the New Testament, else it won't make sense. For instance, Isaiah's words: "He was crushed for our iniquities ....... by his stripes we are healed." It should be interpreted in the context of Jesus's subsequent incarnation (and his healing of the world). Or Psalms (My god, why have you forsaken me) must be read with Jesus' "It is finished" on the cross as a fulfillment, etc etc. So everything in the OT forebodes Christ's deeds, death, sacrifice, in the NT, and we must see it accordingly.
    Many American churches have de-emphasized the Old Testament. Every few months I go to a rather traditional Methodist church here, and have yet to hear even a passage from the Old Testament. I even asked my neighbor, who never misses a Sunday, and she could not remember the last time a verse from the Old Testament was read.

  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    edited December 2013
    Jayantha said:

    found a link to this video and it took the full 40 minutes(start around 37 if interested) to get to the point about jesus and Buddhism(the title of the show is actually did Jesus really die on the cross), but it's quite interesting a concept.

    I had heard the concept about the theory of jesus learning buddhism in his "missing" years, but this bbc show talks about a theory of the 3 wise men who visited jesus actually being buddhist monastics

    Nowhere in the Bible does it mention 3 wise men.
    riverflow
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    vinlyn said:

    You can read the entire Dhammapada in 30 minutes?????

    I speed-read professionally.
    So sue me..... :p

    :D

  • BhikkhuJayasaraBhikkhuJayasara Bhikkhu Veteran
    federica said:

    Jayantha said:

    found a link to this video and it took the full 40 minutes(start around 37 if interested) to get to the point about jesus and Buddhism(the title of the show is actually did Jesus really die on the cross), but it's quite interesting a concept.

    I had heard the concept about the theory of jesus learning buddhism in his "missing" years, but this bbc show talks about a theory of the 3 wise men who visited jesus actually being buddhist monastics

    Nowhere in the Bible does it mention 3 wise men.
    good call, I had to do some research, the wise men from the east are mentioned however no number is given.

    "Mathew 2:1 tells us:
    Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem."
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    It's actually supposed there were quite a crowd of them (around 20 maybe, including guards/escorts) and that they were Zoroastrians.....

    But different research says different things, so.....

    http://answers.ask.com/society/religion_and_spirituality/who_are_the_three_wise_men
  • blu3reeblu3ree Veteran
    edited December 2013
    @heyimacrab.
    james was his brother. maybe that is a good place to start. also the dead sea scrolls.

    as well u should look into what bible your reading as there are many versions of them. http://www.jimpettis.com/bibles/dc.htm link explains the differences between them.

    unfortunatly i was given the KJV which is vastly different from many others. now i have a job and am considering buying a new bible!

    in response to heyimacrabs "Is there any that talk about jesus before he became popular? "

    tbh i believe he traveled to india and tibet. in mathew it speaks of 3 [some] wise men from the east following the star to jesus when he was born. which raises the question in my mind would he want to meet these wise when when he grew up? after all they were his first "followers".

    there are several videos on the internet that delve into this theory and have evidence from buddhist monks manuscripts to back it up.
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Don't. The KJV is the most beautifully-written and poetic, lyrical version there is. it's a jewel amongst the dross of common literature, and 'easy-to-read' bibles.
  • federica said:

    Don't. The KJV is the most beautifully-written and poetic, lyrical version there is. it's a jewel amongst the dross of common literature, and 'easy-to-read' bibles.

    i feel like the KJV is for the spiritually inert. id rather read the most original then with things i have a hard time comprehending doing my own research. due to so many different versions its hard to even find a starting point. i guess according to the link i posted what im looking for is learning hebrew and reading the hebrew bible? but im not for sure.....
  • blu3reeblu3ree Veteran
    edited December 2013
    also i just refered to the bible and it doesnt say that it was 3 wise men could someone please take the 3 out! of my post
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    Done. Kind of.... It's ok..... ;)
  • King James is good. It was revolutionary when it became available. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Version
  • heyimacrab , Read the "Gospels of Thomas" and the "Gospels of Judas", which are both in print and are translated into English. They were found in Egypt in 1947 hidden in a cave in a jar with other scriptures from the Essenes ( John the Baptist was an Essene).
    They are the secret teaching of Jesus, not accepted by the established churches, that took there Christianity from Saint Paul and not the Jewish Aramaic speaking Jesus (Jeshu). Therefore you may want to read these two Gospels that were never included in the Bible, as the Jewish Gnostic element of Christianity of Jesus, and his Brother James (The just) lost out to the Saint Paul vision of Christianity that would become the Catholic church.
    So to read the what I believe is the nearest scriptures to the authentic voice of Christ, then you can look no further than these two Books, that are easily Googled or ordered. As they say "The truth is always out there"
    By the way, the Gospels of Thomas, are the Sayings and proverbs of Jesus, and are very mystical and almost Zen like in their Metaphors. So this is what I would read instead of any Bible, with respect.
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