Banned Questions About Jesus

by Piatt, Christian

• ISBN13: 9780827202696
• ISBN10: 0827202695
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-30
• Publisher: Chalice Pr

Summary

Real questions, real responses. Examine questions and answers about Jesus that many of us were afraid to ask. Some of the questions discussed in this book include: Why did Jesus have to suffer so much before he died? Or did he have to? What happened during the "missing years" of Jesus' life unaccounted for in the Bible? Does it really matter if Jesus was born to a virgin or not? What if Mary wasnt a virgin, or if Joseph (or someone else) was the father? The Bible says that Jesus had siblings. Does that mean that there are people alive today who are from his familys bloodline? Where are they? Who are they?

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why a Book about Banned Questions?	p. 1
Questions
Why would God send Jesus as the sacrificial lamb of God, dying for the sins of the world, instead of just destroying sin or perhaps offering grace and forgiveness to the very ones created by God? Why does an all-powerful being need a mediator anyway?	p. 2
Many Christians embrace the phrase, "I believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, and I accept him as my personal Lord and Savior," but I can't find this anywhere in the Bible. Where did it come from?	p. 9
In John 14:6, Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Do people have to choose to follow Jesus to go to heaven? And what does it mean to choose his way?	p. 13
Did Jesus ever have sex? Did he have sexual fantasies and desires?	p. 18
Why did Jesus have to suffer so much before he died? Or did he have to?	p. 21
What happened during the "missing years" of Jesus' life, unaccounted for in the Bible?	p. 25
How would we actually know if Jesus came again? Wouldn't we just kill him all over again?	p. 28
Why should I believe that Jesus was resurrected? What does it mean to the Christian faith if he wasn't resurrected?	p. 32
A woman in Mark 7:25-30 and Matthew 15:21-28 asks Jesus to heal her daughter, but his first response is to deny her help and call her a dog. Isn't this a cruel, and pretty un-Christlike, response?	p. 37
Does it really matter if Jesus was born to a virgin or not? What if Mary wasn't a virgin or if Joseph (or someone else) was the father?	p. 42
Did Jesus really live a life without any sin? What do we base this on? And does it matter? Why?	p. 45
Why did Jesus cry out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" from the cross? Did God really abandon him? If so, doesn't this mean that Jesus wasn't actually God?	p. 49
Why doesn't there seem to be any physical evidence of Jesus' life?	p. 54
In Isaiah, Satan is referred to as the "Morning Star" and so is Jesus in Revelation. In 1 Peter, Satan is compared to a lion, and in Revelation, Jesus too is called a lion. Are these parallels intentional? Why?	p. 57
Aren't Jesus' miracles similar to other healings and miracles recorded outside the Jewish and Christian tradition?	p. 59
The Bible says that Jesus had siblings. Does that mean that there are people alive today who are from his family's bloodline? Where are they? Who are they?	p. 63
When Jesus participates in the Last Supper, doesn't that mean he's eating his own body and drinking his own blood?	p. 66
Mormons believe that Jesus appeared to thousands of North American natives. Why do so many other Christians not believe this happened?	p. 68
What's the big deal with the Shround of Turin? Is it real or fake? If it's fake, why create it in the first place?	p. 70
Why did Jesus instruct people at times not to tell others who he was? Wasn't this contrary to the idea of spreading the good news of his presence on earth?	p. 72
Did Jesus understand himself to be God, like God, in line with God, or something else? Did he understand this from birth? If not, then when did he begin to understand it and how?	p. 75
Is it possible that Jesus married and had children?	p. 79
If Jesus could resurrect people, why didn't he do it more often?	p. 82
Galatians 3:22: Is it the faith of Jesus or faith in Jesus that's the key?	p. 85
Was Jesus a pacifist?	p. 88
Why would Jesus supply wine for a party as his first "miracle"? Doesn't this seem more like a trick than a miracle? And does this mean he condoned drinking?	p. 92
Where was Jesus for the time between his death and resurrection?	p. 95
Most of our images of Jesus portray him with long blond or brown hair, blue eyes, and white skin. But what did Jesus really look like?	p. 99
Who do people of the Jewish faith believe Jesus was? A prophet? Just a man? Why don't they believe he was the Messiah?	p. 102
When Jesus was resurrected, why did he still have wounds on his body?	p. 106
Does Jesus ever refer to the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in his ministry? If so, does he identify himself as part of that Trinity? If not, where did it come from?	p. 110
What are the Jesus papers? Are they true? What do they mean to the Christian faith?	p. 113
In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus drives the money changers out of the temple just before he dies, but in John, this happens at the beginning of his ministry. Why are these accounts different?	p. 115
In Mark 9:37, Jesus says, "Whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me." Is Jesus saying here that he is not actually God?	p. 118
Aside from the women and the disciples, are there any recorded stories of personal interaction between Jesus and other people after he was resurrected? Why wouldn't he appear to more people? And why did he stay on earth for forty days? Is that symbolically important?	p. 121
Was Jesus ever sick? If so, why not just heal himself?	p. 125
After Jesus' baptism, he is tempted in the desert several times. How is this different from when he teaches in Matthew 5:28 that "everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart"? Aren't these basically the same thing?	p. 128
In several places in the gospels, Jesus suggests that even he doesn't know when he will return again to earth. Why not? Is God keeping it a secret from him? And if Jesus actually is God, shouldn't he know everything?	p. 132
Did Jesus believe God wanted him to be crucified? If so, why did he ask God, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me" in the garden of Gethsemane?	p. 135
Was Jesus ever wrong? About what?	p. 139
Some gospel accounts trace Jesus' lineage to King David through Mary's family, while others trace it through Joseph. Is one of these wrong? And why trace it through Joseph if he wasn't Jesus' father by blood?	p. 141
Did Jesus study other religions? Which ones?	p. 144
In John 20:2, it mentions "the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved." Who is this? Why not name that person? Was it a man or woman? What kind of "love" is the author talking about?	p. 149
It seems like there are a lot of parallels between the stories of Jesus and the Egyptian mythology character, Horus. Could timelines be wrong somewhere, and could it be that the stories of Horus and Jesus actually are referring to the same person?	p. 151
Why were books like the infancy gospels of James and Thomas not included in the Bible, especially since they include stories about Jesus' childhood not included in the other gospels?	p. 153
Jesus forgave people of their sins before he died. How could he do this if he actually had to die in order to save us from sin?	p. 156
Jesus broke certain biblical laws by healing on the Sabbath, associating with non-Jews, and not keeping all of the kosher laws. So how do we know which rules to follow and which are irrelevant to us today?	p. 159
Why would God put an unwed teenage mother through the difficulty of pregnancy, childbirth, and trying to explain how she got pregnant?	p. 164
Why did Jesus heal some people by touching them, some when they touched him, and others without even meeting them? And then why use mud to cure a man from blindness? Did he really need this?	p. 167
Did Jesus have a clue that people would call him Messiah or God Incarnate? Would he have tolerated these labels?	p. 169
Contributors List, Biographies, and Suggested Resources	p. 173
God Image Survey	p. 199
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