September 2001 – Compassionate Spirit

(UPDATE May 1, 2018: This article was first published on this web site when it went “live” in 2001 (as a static page). Before that it had circulated, in various versions, in print form at talks I gave during the 1990’s and early 2000’s. When I converted the web site to WordPress in 2012, though, it somehow got lost, and I am now inserting into my blog backdated to its original date. This list is essentially what I had in 2004, with a few extra comments.)

All biblical quotations are from the King James Version or the American Standard Version of 1901 (public domain), unless specified otherwise. I have cited passages both pro and con; the Bible does not take a consistent stand. My explanations are in <angle brackets>; for lengthy passages I have only added an explanation of the passage. Continue reading “Selected biblical passages on vegetarianism”

The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity. By Keith Akers. Lantern Books, 2000. 260 pages, with indices and bibliography. $20.

This book can be ordered from Lantern Books, or from book services such as Abe Books or Amazon.

Jesus’ preaching was first and foremost about simple living and nonviolence; he never intended to create a new religion separate from Judaism. Moreover, Jesus’ radical Jewish ethics, not a new theology, distinguished the followers of Jesus from other Jews. It was the earliest followers of Jesus, the Jewish Christians, who understood Jesus better than any of the gentile Christian groups. Continue reading “The Lost Religion of Jesus”