Another Biblical passage quoted:
20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.
23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.
-copied from here.
In the goetic timeline,the exoteric "Petrine" (Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant) Churches are confronted and challenged by the upstart esoteric "Johannine" Church. However, I think that the "Petrine" Churches should be called "Pauline."
Peter is important because he was:
the chief disciple;
the first to recognize Jesus as Messiah while he was alive;
the first to proclaim the Resurrection after Jesus' death.
Thus, Peter founded Christianity as the combined belief that Jesus is Messiah and was resurrected. The belief that someone was resurrected can only have been founded after his death, therefore cannot have been founded by him. Thus, Jesus is the hero, not the author, of the story. However, what Peter founded was a new Jewish sect, confined to Jerusalem and worshiping in the Temple. Paul relaunched Christianity as a Gentile religion by allowing baptism without circumcision. Even Paul had not completed the break from Judaism since he was arrested making an offering in the Temple.
Luke, influenced by Paul, wrote Acts in which Peter hears God, who had previously declared certain foods unclean, accusing him, Peter, of wrongly calling those foods unclean! This rationalizes Christian departure from Jewish dietary laws.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, many of the Protestant churches can be fairly called "Petrine," but I would have added "Nicene" before "Protestant." Because I think only those Protestants who believe in the Trinity and the divinity of Christ could be included, to some degree, after the Orthodox and Catholics. There are certain "Protestants" lacking in that much Christian orthodoxy, such as JWs, Oneness Pentecostals, Mormons, etc.
I'm sorry, but I don't agree with this "minimizing" view of Christianity. And I don't at all believe that either Peter or Paul founded Christianity. That founding can only belong to Christ, who made Peter the first of the Popes and commissioned the Apostles to and preach the Gospel to all nations. Paul was certainly important, but he preached no new Gospel and even took pains to consult Peter, to make sure what he taught aligned with what Peter proclaimed. And they certainly both agreed on the non necessity of Christians being circumcised and observing kosher.
Unlike you, I really do believe in divine inspiration and visions being granted by God.
And I'm sure that bit you quoted from John's Gospel has greatly puzzled many commentators!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Why do you think God changed His mind about dietary laws?
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Because the kosher laws were no longer needed. They were instituted in the first place to help distinguish the Jews from their pagan neighbors, as a means of helping to preserve the revelation given them about the real God. It was also partly to help prepare for the advent of Christianity.
Ad astra! Sean
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