azazyel
Diamond Member
Since there are no shortages of religion threads here I though I might as well try to point people to some (IMO) good resources about Christianity. Now, I know that no one here would ever get in a debate about something they knew Jack Shat about but just in case.
First off is a documentary by PBS called from "From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians". This movie uses historical and archeological evidence to paint a picture of the time of Jesus and his followers and how this obscure religion took hold. Because this documentary uses investigative reasoning it may rub a good portion of Christians the wrong way and even may have them yelling BLASPHEME at their TVs. I say this because it always seems to me that a lot of Christians think the entire world held it's breath while Jesus lived which isn't the case. This movie can be purchased at PBS.com but I think you could probably find it at your local library or even at a university. Here is a link to some the info that is discussed by the documentary.
From Jesus to Christ
Second, are the writings of a man named Josephus who was a member of Jerusalem's priestly aristocracy. His account is one of the few surviving looks at the time of the early Christians. He is discussed in depth in the movie motioned above but for a closer look you find more info here.
His surviving works are:
Jewish War
Jewish Antiquities
Autobiography
Against Apion
Josephus info from Rutgers
Third is that some of you may want to read up on Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus. His preaching are thought to have influenced Jesus.
Hillel info by Orthodox Union
Lastly is a book, which really made me think, called "The Five Gospels : What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the AUTHENTIC Words of Jesus" This book examines each of the four gospels and compares them with each other and with other works of the time. This book was put together by the Jesus Seminar, a group of 200+ religious scholars.
Info on the Jesus Seminar
Partial list of members
Any hoo, I have a feeling this thread may drop to the bottom pretty fast but I found some of this interesting and I just hoped that you might as well.
First off is a documentary by PBS called from "From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians". This movie uses historical and archeological evidence to paint a picture of the time of Jesus and his followers and how this obscure religion took hold. Because this documentary uses investigative reasoning it may rub a good portion of Christians the wrong way and even may have them yelling BLASPHEME at their TVs. I say this because it always seems to me that a lot of Christians think the entire world held it's breath while Jesus lived which isn't the case. This movie can be purchased at PBS.com but I think you could probably find it at your local library or even at a university. Here is a link to some the info that is discussed by the documentary.
From Jesus to Christ
Second, are the writings of a man named Josephus who was a member of Jerusalem's priestly aristocracy. His account is one of the few surviving looks at the time of the early Christians. He is discussed in depth in the movie motioned above but for a closer look you find more info here.
His surviving works are:
Jewish War
Jewish Antiquities
Autobiography
Against Apion
Josephus info from Rutgers
Third is that some of you may want to read up on Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus. His preaching are thought to have influenced Jesus.
Hillel info by Orthodox Union
Lastly is a book, which really made me think, called "The Five Gospels : What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the AUTHENTIC Words of Jesus" This book examines each of the four gospels and compares them with each other and with other works of the time. This book was put together by the Jesus Seminar, a group of 200+ religious scholars.
Info on the Jesus Seminar
Partial list of members
Any hoo, I have a feeling this thread may drop to the bottom pretty fast but I found some of this interesting and I just hoped that you might as well.
