@futurebird

I mean. On the whole, Jesus was "weak on crime".

If you think about it. 🤔

He was not very into the whole punitive model of justice.

@michaelgemar @futurebird

Hmm. Did he though..?

@TerryHancock @futurebird Pretty much. He talks a lot about hell as a place of punishment, which (as I understand it) was not really a feature of the Jewish afterlife.

And the notion of eternal conscious torment is really fucked up.

@michaelgemar
True. There are even those who have made the case that Jesus was entirely fictitious. There are no real contemporaneous references to him, outside of Christian sources, so it's possible.

Of course, the ancient world was not so documented as today. There are many people and events with limited references. I am personally of the opinion that he existed, but that the gospel exaggerated his impact. Which seems consistent with religious leaders and followers, generally.

But it clearly is the case that the Gospels are essentially propaganda documents created many years after, with agendas set by their authors.

So analysis of what Jesus said, is best understood as literary criticism of a character, as represented, rather than analysis of any real person the character may be based on. It's mythology or mytho-history at best.

I am most struck, though, by the many times that Jesus tempered punitive behavior, forgave sins, encouraged rehabilitation, understanding, acceptance, etc. This seems contrary to the punitive mindset of conservatives to me.

@InkySchwartz @futurebird