From: ECL4JN2@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Jack Newsbaum)
Subject: Re: Jesus denied he was God
Date: 12 Aug 92 19:08:19 PDT

In article <wy1m-cb.sheaffer@netcom.com>, on 09 Aug 92 17:16:54 GMT,
sheaffer@netcom.com (Robert Sheaffer) writes:

>
>In article <19920808204423ECL4JN2@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU> ECL4JN2@MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU (Jack Newsbaum) writes:
>>
>>"As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him
>>and asked him. 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
>>Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good?' No one is good but God
>>alone.'" (Mark 10:17-18)
>>
>>I'm not quite sure how this got past the censors of the early Church,
>>but it seems rather clear from this passage that Jesus did not regard
>>himself as God, and actually rebuked an admirer for using language which
>>might suggest that.
>
>Now you understand why the church ended up with three "Synoptic Gospels."
>They obviously felt that the Gospel of Mark was an extremely significant
>source document for their faith, yet at the same time it contained much
>material that became, as church doctrine matured, Theologically
>Incorrect. What to do about this? Why, you write a new and improved
>Gospel which incorporates nearly all of Mark, only has the major problems
>fixed, and you call it "According to Matthew." Then you let Mark fall into
>disuse (as indeed was done), so that people pretty much forget about it.
>This "Matthew" effort was such a success that somebody else decided to
>do another one and call it "Luke."
>
>Study the "deltas" between the Synoptic Gospels, and you'll learn exactly
>what ideas the early church was trying to promote, and what they were
>trying to hide.

You bring up an excellent point about the differences between the
Gospels. For example, in Mark, there is an account of a conversation
between Jesus and a Pharisee about which commandment is the most
important. The conversation is friendly; the Pharisee contributes
to the discussion, and Jesus tells him that he is not far from the
kingdom of God. (Mark 12:28-34) In Matthew's account, the friendliness
of the exchange has been obliterated, and the Pharisee is not motivated
by admiration of Jesus but merely wishes to test him. Jesus' courteous
respect for the Pharisee is deleted, aznd we are left with yet another
story about an envious Pharisee being silenced by the superior wisdom
of Jesus.

What we can really learn from all of this is that the historical Jesus
really had no religious conflict at all with the Pharisees, but that
between the 10-15 years between the time Mark and Matthew was written,
the Church had begun to engage in polemical debate with the mainstream
Jews, who by this time had clearly rejected the possibility that Jesus
could have been the Messiah.
>
>        Robert Sheaffer - Scepticus Maximus - sheaffer@netcom.com
>
> Past Chairman, The Bay Area Skeptics - for whom I speak only when authorized!
>
>       "Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet.
>        Then all things are at risk. It is as when a conflagration has
>        broken out in a great city, and no man knows what is safe, or
>        where it will end."
>                               - Emerson: Essay, "Circles"
>
    ====Jack====