The Good News

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The Good News
Almost five years ago, I began blogging the Bible, with detailed skeptical analysis covering the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and the Gospels. Last week, I finally finished my intended scope of analysis. Overall, it has been a challenging and enriching experience, but I am ready for a break! :-)

Before I go, I thought I would give you some highlight posts from the Gospels, as I had done for the Torah when I finished that about two years ago. So without further ado, here are the posts I would rank as the most important ones to consider. The top five from the Gospels are:

1. John the Baptist Leads the Way? - Ever wonder why baptism is so prominent in Christianity? It has to do with prophesy, but a closer look at these prophesies reveals considerable discrepancies to what we find in the Gospels.
2. Why Jesus Spoke in Parables - Do you believe God/Jesus really wants to save everyone? Jesus' reference to an Old Testament prophesy proves otherwise.
3. The Unforgivable Sin - Only one sin is explicitly claimed as being unforgivable. What does this one exemption say about God?
4. Foundation of Sand - Speaking of Jesus' teachings, at the completion of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said those who did not obey were destined for disaster. A review of His teachings seems to illustrate just how few people actually do obey.
5. An Easy Yoke - According to Jesus, His burden is light, meaning that following Him is easy. However, another, more-complete review of His teachings up to that point would seem to prove otherwise.

Beyond those top five, below are a collection of hand-selected posts which, I believe, are also instrumental in more-fully revealing the truth of Christianity. If you missed these before, or this is your first time here, I think it is worth taking a look:

• Damnation by Association - To those who believe that we each individually make the choice to accept or reject Jesus' offer of Salvation, Jesus' words suggest otherwise.
• The Fall of a Sparrow - To those who believe that the accidents and catastrophic disasters in this life are not under the direct control of God, Jesus' words indicate differently.
• Preparing the Way Out of Context - This is a deeper investigation into how the prophesy within Malachi, prophesy which contradicts Christianity, was inappropriately applied John the Baptist.
• Misquoted and Misguided - You know you are in trouble when Jesus misquotes Scripture, and this study examines one of those misquotes, and examines its true, contextual meaning.
• Walking on Fluid Myth - With just a small amount of scrutiny, we can easily see that stories like Jesus walking on water are likely myth, and may have even originally been intended to communicate Gnostic knowledge.
• By Invitation Only - To those who believe that your Salvation is an individual choice of free will, Jesus' (and Paul's) words explain that it is God who chooses the Saved, not the other way around.
• The Signs of the Times - Jesus berated a mostly illiterate audience for not knowing the Scriptural signs of the times, but a detailed look into Daniel's prophesy reveals that Jesus was the one in the wrong.
• Tasting a Deceased Kingdom - The end of the world is nigh! Or, at least it was near. That was the message preached by Jesus; that the Kingdom of God was coming soon, not 2000 years later.
• Understanding Grief - Everyone knows that there are apparent contradictions in the Gospel accounts. Most of them are only weak differences that can be explained away thanks to the lack of explicit language. But when the authors repeatedly took opposing sides on the same issues, like the Disciples understanding Jesus' fate, such differences cannot be reconciled.
• Cut Off Your Reason - While there is a trend within Christianity now to accept the mantra "we are not perfect, just forgiven", Jesus advised taking extreme measures to avoid sin to live perfect, as you will see in this study, which also includes an investigation of prophetic Hell.
• Inequity of Time - While there are many subtle differences in the Gospels, discrepancies like the one studied here illustrate how the Gospel authors manipulated the message as they saw fit.
• Lazarus, Lying About - The story of Jesus resurrecting His beloved friend, Lazarus, is plagued by absurdities, and John's description of its impact creates one of the strongest possible arguments from silence of the other three Gospels against the story being true.
• Enter, Stage Jerusalem - Jesus took measures to ensure that His entrance into Jerusalem appeared prophetic, yet a look at that prophesy reveals another extraction from context.
• Entrapment in the Temple - Jesus zealously cleared the Temple courtyard of dove-sellers and money-changers, forgetting how God's Law essentially established their necessity there.
• Near the end of Jesus' teaching career, He revealed many signs which would accompany the end of the world. I did a series of posts called "The End Back Then", with Temple Tragedy, Jesus' Return, and Be Ready being particularly worthy of attention.
• Denial of a Difference - This study of Jesus' prophesy of Peter's denial reveals, yet again, how the Gospels have some contradictions which are not possible to resolve, even though some Christians deny such contradictions exist.
• Finally, everyone who knows of Christianity has likely heard the story of Judas' betrayal of Jesus. However, through a series entitled "Judas Fish", the details of the story appeared to be rather fishy. The stench of lies is most completely and thoroughly revealed in the study of The Aftermath of Judas' betrayal.