Avoid Thinking that Christ Jesus is God
No matter how much people are taught teachings by God, they cannot necessarily live up to these teachings.
Such a situation is depicted in the story about Moses in the Old Testament. And another one is seen in the Gospels depicting religious circumstances around Christ Jesus. In addition, Jewish people have said, in these 2000 years, that most of major teachings by Christ Jesus are written in the Old Testament; Nothing new was especially preached by Christ Jesus, they argue, although Christ Jesus delivered some unique teachings.
There have been crimes and villains among Jewish people as many as those among Christians, Muslims, and pagans. It does not necessarily mean that a person lives up to teachings by God if the person is a member of a religious community that admits existence of God.
So, it is in such a situation that Christ Jesus appeared among Jewish people. Jewish people knew, read, and heard about the teaching by God through the Hebrew Bible. However, their minds were far from God. Christ Jesus, in a sense, repeated well known teachings by God, but with renewed spirit and in true but forgotten meaning. In other words, Christ Jesus tried to make Jewish people rediscover the Hebrew Bible. Or He presented true Judaism while Jewish people at the time forgot the true meaning of Judaism.
However, as the Jewish-Roman War fought, all the Jewish people were driven out of Jerusalem. They lost the Temple in Jerusalem that was respected by early Christians or Christian Jewish, too. So, Judaism itself was forced to change, while early Christianity or the Christian faction among Jewish people was also compelled to further change.
But, early Christianity was not accepted by all the Jewish people in diaspora. Nonetheless, Judaism after the Jewish-Roman War changed. Jewish people must have been influenced by Christianity. At least, they could not close their eyes to Christianity. They must have admitted that the teachings by Christ Jesus came from old Judaism. If Christian churches did not request followers to accept the ideology that Christ Jesus was God, more Jewish people should have converted to Christianity.
So, the key to understanding and criticizing Christianity is the Christian ideology that Christ Jesus is God, which was however not claimed by Christ Jesus Himself.
To be true to Christian churches, you have to believe that Christ Jesus is God, but to be true to Christ Jesus Himself, you should avoid thinking that Christ Jesus is God.
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Mat 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
Mat 1:6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
Mat 1:7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;