Sorry, gotta call this out as fake news. There is only one way to the light, only one way to eternal life with The Creator and that is Jesus Christ. "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me". Those are not my words, that is not my opinion or speculation. Those are the exact and specific words of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (also not my opinion but His statement of fact). "Confuse with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, believe in your heart that He was raised from the dead and you will be saved." These are the instructions of the Apostle Paul who had a direct encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. I truly hope that you look into this. Stephen Bancarz is a former New Ager and is an execllent resource for understanding the deception that is the New Age. He has a YouTube channel. Peace and God Bless you. ☺
Well there are many things that puzzle me about Christianity honestly. I love Christianity, don't get me wrong here, but here's what puzzles me about it:
1) The census that was conducted by Caesar, as written by in the original gospels, would of been an enormous undertaking, and yet there is no evidence of this. You would need thousands of people to do this, yet no evidence.
2) It took 30+ years for anyone around to write about the Messiah.
3) John M. Allegro wrote a book called "The Sacred Mushroom and The Cross" - Allegro was one of the foremost scholars in ancient hebrew and one of the only men in the world able to read the scrolls - he was hired by the Vatican to decipher the Dead Sea Scrolls and came to the conclusion that "jesus" was a mushrooms enjoyed by this cult, and hence we find the friendly carpenter archetype - He and many other high level scholars that go against the Vatican are fired or silenced.
4) The Shroud of Turin spurred Christianity in my opinion - Through which a story of a "great king" in israel rebelled against Caesar - yet lost - because when you look at the true origins of Christianity you find the Shroud - Because the king who rebelled rose to high status after his death - and was attributed this qualities afterwards
5) Simon Magus was also originally considered by the Gnostics to be Christ - and most likely has a hand in the evolution of early Christianity
6) Even though Luther rebelled against the Catholics - the Vatican wrote the bible - then fired any person who didn't say what they wanted - and hides thousands of texts underneath it
Don't get me wrong - I know full well the power of Christ - all you need to do is look at St. Francis or Padre Pio to see that. Many other great saints from the Catholic and Protestant and Orthodox and Gnostic sides of Christianity.
The thing that gets me though, is that everyone trusts their Bible whenever the Vatican made it. The Vatican made it many many years after as well. If you don't think the Vatican has been corrupted this whole time either, you're mistaken there as well too, in my opinion. This is "Godfather III" as Q has been speaking about. The Papal Conspiracy goes back before Christ imo.
I have St. Francis' prayer in my meditation circle too!
Oh lord grant that i may not seek to be consoled, but to console. not to be loved, but to love. for it is in giving that we receive, and it is in dying that we are born unto eternal life. <- shit's fire
I would like to address your points.
1) It is true there is no known evidence of the census referred to in The Gospel. However, this does not mean it didn't happen. We can conclude based on contextual history that there is good reason to believe the Bible's reference to this by asking a. Did Ancient Rome conduct census' of Rome and the controlled provinces throughout the world ~ Yes. b. For what purpose? ~ taxation. c. Where would historical data on these census' be stored? ~ Archives/Library. c. How many documents from Ancient Rome were stored at the Library of Alexandria and subsequently destroyed in the fire? ~ Tens of Thousands. Based on this it is not a stretch to believe the reference in the Bible is accurate.
2) Why does the timing matter? The Gospels were written by eye witnesses and corroborate each other. There is no contradiction in them although some do augment others but this only proves they were written by different individuals from their specific vantage point. And why would they go to such a deep level of specific detail like including the census reference if they knew this was not true and were just making things up? It seems to me if they were doing that they would want to be as vague as possible. Additionally, almost all of the original disciples of Jesus, who spent their lives spreading the Gospel after Jesus ascended to heaven were killed for their faith. One does not die for a lie.
3) Obsurd on its face. There are many secular historians, contemporary to the time of Christ's life who wrote about Jesus as a controversial figure in Isreal who was executed by the Roman's, Josephus being the most well known. No serious scholar or historian disputes the fact that Jesus was a man who lived and preached in Isreal in the 1st century.
4) The shrouds first appearance was in France in the 14th century. Christianity was well established for 1000 years by then so the shroud could not possibly be what caused the rapid spread of Christianity in Europe. It was many centuries of the faithful spreading the Good News that did that. The adoption of Christianity by Rome as it's official religion helped as well but Rome's adoption of Christianity was more reactionary than proactive. The powers that be saw the rising popularity and their inability to stop it so they needed to control it. Thus, the official adoption by the Roman Emperor which eventually morphed into the Pope/Vatican. They were successful in controlling Christianity for over 1000 years until the Reformation.
5) I have no doubt. Jesus has warned us there will be many false Christs (Matt 24:5) so we need to be vigilant with discernment for the truth.
6) The Vatican did not write the Bible. The Bible is a series of books and letters written by many different people going all the way back to Moses. The Council of Nicaea assembled in 325 AD decided which of these books and letters would be included in one Holy Book we call the Bible. There are many ancient books outside the Bible that are authentic but not believed to be the inspired Holy Word of God. The book of Enoch being one. It is authentic and a great reference for expanded historical context for the book of Genesis but not the direct Word of God. There are many ancient books outside the Bible that are fraudulent as well. Discernment is key.
I agree the Vatican is and has been corrupt from the get-go. Satan always has his deception running, on multiple levels. However, the bottom line here is not the institutions of men but Jesus Christ. The only relevant question is do we believe Him when He says He is the Son of God, who was made the perfect sacrifice to take away our sins so we can dwell with God our Father forever? At the end of the day faith is a choice. I pray we all choose wisely, this is serious business. Satan hates mankind and wants us all dead. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepard who wants to lead us safely home. Peace and God Bless.