Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him?

Discuss philosophical questions regarding theism (and atheism), and discuss religion as it relates to philosophy. This includes any philosophical discussions that happen to be about god, gods, or a 'higher power' or the belief of them. This also generally includes philosophical topics about organized or ritualistic mysticism or about organized, common or ritualistic beliefs in the existence of supernatural phenomenon.
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Skakos
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Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him?

Post by Skakos »

Image

Dressed in a long white robe and wearing long hair and long beard, the white “Jesus”, who was later on established to be an Italian tourist named Antonio Boretti, drew people’s attention because of his garb. His entire appearance resembled that of the Western image of Jesus that has been engraved in most people’s minds, leading most Christians in Zambia to believe that he was “Jesus” coming back for the second time to judge the world.

The local people followed him and and some even worshipped him, showering him with gifts.

It must have been very confusing for the poor tourist who seemed like he did not understand what was going on but enjoying the attention nevertheless, when he saw people following him. Some believed it was Judgement Day and went to the extent of asking him to forgive them their sins. [thisisafrica.me/lifestyle/jesus-walks-s ... ta-zambia/]

It may sound funny (and it is!) but think about it: Would you recognize Jesus if He came to Earth again? Would you recognize Him if you lived when He lived? Would you see what was in front of you? How many of us are ready to hear the teaching of a poor man with nothing to wear, with no food to eat, with an eagerness to cast a doubt on everything you held dear and on everything you believed in?

Would you be able to hear the teachings of a pariah while passing by him with your expensive car?

What do you think?

PS. The question is mainly targeted to people who believe, but of course atheists could have some insights on this as well. Remember: we are not discussing if Jesus existed, just if one could see his true nature if he happed to walk by Him.
~ το γὰρ αὐτὸ νοεῖν ἐστίν τε καὶ εἶναι ~

Harmonia Philosophica - Philosophy portal against dogmatism of any kind, religious & scientific alike... http://harmoniaphilosophica.wordpress.com/
Harbal
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Harbal »

Is he claiming to be Jesus or is it up to us to figure it out?
Sacrontine
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Sacrontine »

The reason people recognized Jesus back in the day was because (allegedly) he performed actual miracles. Having a beard and white robes is enough for some naive Zambians to give you gifts but it won't get you much more than that.
Lambert
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Lambert »

Skakos wrote:Image

Dressed in a long white robe and wearing long hair and long beard, the white “Jesus”, who was later on established to be an Italian tourist named Antonio Boretti, drew people’s attention because of his garb. His entire appearance resembled that of the Western image of Jesus that has been engraved in most people’s minds, leading most Christians in Zambia to believe that he was “Jesus” coming back for the second time to judge the world.

The local people followed him and and some even worshipped him, showering him with gifts.

It must have been very confusing for the poor tourist who seemed like he did not understand what was going on but enjoying the attention nevertheless, when he saw people following him. Some believed it was Judgement Day and went to the extent of asking him to forgive them their sins. [thisisafrica.me/lifestyle/jesus-walks-s ... ta-zambia/]

It may sound funny (and it is!) but think about it: Would you recognize Jesus if He came to Earth again? Would you recognize Him if you lived when He lived? Would you see what was in front of you? How many of us are ready to hear the teaching of a poor man with nothing to wear, with no food to eat, with an eagerness to cast a doubt on everything you held dear and on everything you believed in?

Would you be able to hear the teachings of a pariah while passing by him with your expensive car?

What do you think?

PS. The question is mainly targeted to people who believe, but of course atheists could have some insights on this as well. Remember: we are not discussing if Jesus existed, just if one could see his true nature if he happed to walk by Him.
I would like to say kill him because he is not the one, just like the Buddha would say to kill Buddha if you see him (as not the one you are looking for).
Harbal
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Harbal »

Lambert wrote: I would like to say kill him
What! Again!
But, on the positive side, I suppose we'd get another bank holiday out of it.
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Lacewing
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Lacewing »

My impressions:

It seems like people are all over the map in what they are capable of perceiving and doing. If this character Jesus were to arrive and announce himself, yet look completely different than the fantasized drawings, I think people would be very suspicious and crucify him AGAIN!!! Poor guy.

If he were to look like the fantasized drawings and was walking around with little lambs, that would be suspect too!

If his message was different than what is portrayed (distorted?) by the bible, again... people would shout "Imposter!"

If he somehow managed to gather the masses and their devotion... disrupting the system... the big banks and money emperors would probably bring him down. And there would probably be some people trying to rip swatches from his robes, in order to sell them on ebay.

I think for his sake, he should stay away (at least in physical form). People can't handle it. :) They're too wrapped up in their own ideas and agendas.

Yes, I do think there are people with Jesus-energy in all kinds of places right here, right now (and always have been)... and many people steamroll right past (or over) them every day. So I guess there's no reason to think that people would recognize such spirit any more fully if some Jesus character from the past came into their midst.
Harbal
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Harbal »

Would he still come from the middle east? I see him as Welch, this time.
Steve3007
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Steve3007 »

I think perhaps Scottish might be good this time around. It seems to work quite well for Dr Who.

Also: This may be a bit "out of left field" as they say, but could Jesus perhaps be a woman next time? That would add quite a good twist. Do the rules allow that?
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Sy Borg
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Sy Borg »

People see Jesus in toast. They see him in clouds. This same white, non middle eastern hippie looking man. In fact, if you go to Google Images with the search terms - jesus dog bum - you will see some photos that was immature enough to laugh at. Some of us may rail at humanity but we can be hilarious :)

I don't believe much of the Bible, but if christlike figure (male or female) started to come to prominence I imagine he'd be killed in short order before he built up too much of a following, probably in an "accident" like Karen Silkwood's. He or she would never get a chance to become a household name.
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated—Gandhi.
Steve3007
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Steve3007 »

I did indeed look up "jesus dog bum" on google images (how could I possibly not?) and it was uncanny. It's like one of those "magic eye" pictures. You stare at a dog's bum for a while and then suddenly it jumps out. Spooky. It's got me convinced. Convinced of what, exactly, I'm not sure. But definitely convinced.
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Sy Borg
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Sy Borg »

Yes, Jesus is everywhere. In this thread he's been found in the tiles of a hotel floor: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023017377. Scroll further down the page and you'll see the most uncanny representation of Yoda in a pig's forehead:)
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated—Gandhi.
Steve3007
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Steve3007 »

I'm not so sure about Jesus in the floor tile. Looks more like a bear to me.

But I guess what this all shows is the amazing importance to the human brain of human faces and of pattern recognition. We see them absolutely everywhere. There seem to have been loads in the shadows of images of Mars. Anywhere where there's enough detail and texture to be able to impose a pattern by selectively picking out the details that re-enforce what we want to see. I think this kind of "faces in the fire" phenomenon is a good reminder that the pattern recognition which serves us so well in finding the order in the universe is a double-edged sword.
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Sy Borg
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Sy Borg »

I think the pattern recognition applies to the abstract too, not just the visual. In a sense the ancients saw metaphorical faces in their most feared forces of nature - the faces of deities.
The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated—Gandhi.
Steve3007
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Steve3007 »

Yes, absolutely. That's what I meant. We seem to look for two things in all of Nature: predictability and agency. Predictability means patterns (visual, mathematical or other patterns) and agency means looking for minds controlling everything. I suspect the search for agency in the world stems from the fact that we "grew up" having to spend most of our lives negotiating with or outwitting other conscious creatures. Other animals or other humans.

Given the similar upbringing of other similar creatures, such as other mammals, I suspect they probably see agency in the natural world too. I guess you only have to look at a cat playing to see that they think everything is alive.
Harbal
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Re: Jesus came to Earth again! What?! Would we recognize Him

Post by Harbal »

Steve3007 wrote:I think perhaps Scottish might be good this time around.
"Jock MacChrist"
It doesn't sound very biblical.
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