Does the book of Isaiah say anything about Jesus of Nazareth?

[SarahM32]

48. Well, since you put it that way ... I will say this:

Actually, in the title of your post #35, you wrote: “I said he (Jefferson) was an Apologist. Many faiths have Apologists.”

Granted, you altered that statement when you then wrote: “Jefferson was a ‘Deist issuing an apologia in respect of the Bible.’" But I find slightly problematic your argument that: “Apologia are the words issued in rebuttal of and defense against charges brought against person or item.”

You could say that, but Apologia is usually thought of as a defense or justification of a belief (usually religious) or action, not “defense against” it.

For example, Paul wrote an apologia to the Romans in defense of his theology of Christian Apologetics, because the Romans had rejected it. Perhaps you could say that the Romans had attacked it so Paul was presenting a defense against attack. But Paul wrote his epistles after not having much success as an evangelist in person, and it was largely because he was rejected that he wrote and sent his letters far and wide. Still, I guess we could write this off as an argument over semantics, because I know what you mean.

Also, I can forgive you too, not only for misreading much of what I have written, but for your obvious position against the message I promote. I don’t blame you for feeling and believing as you do about it. It’s understandable, and even expected.

I am confused, though, by this statement you made: “The fact that I see your faith as a Christian one, in the same way as Mormonism, should give you cause to ponder how different it is from the faith you apparently discard. The idea that quote mining other faiths for support of yours make yours somehow different from your source faith is nonsensical; you might as well invent a whole new holy book.”

My faith is Christian as defined by the message, which means it is mostly within the Judeo-Christian context in terms of terminology, but interpreted in a new way. And it is also Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Native American, etc, since I believe in God as Jehovah or Yahweh and also as Brahman, the Supreme Consciousness, The Absolute Tao, the Great Spirit-Parent, and so on.

I don’t know what you mean by the faith that I “apparently discard,” unless you mean the faith of Paul and other writers of the official Christian church canon. Like Thomas Jefferson and growing numbers of others since, I do not regard their erroneous attributions, exaggerations and myths as worthy of having faith in. I have faith in Divinity revealed, and also in that which is universally held as spiritual truth and is common to all religions.

I find that your concept and claim of “quote mining” misses the point entirely. Jesus of Nazareth quoted previous prophets, and his parables were gleaned from the Hindu Vedas. And most spiritual teachers quote or paraphrase prophets and other spiritual teachers from whom they have learned, and they often do so to make a point or support a thesis or premise.

As for the definition of ecstacy, you’re right in that it can include the sense of “mental transport” or being “taken out of one’s self,” or transcending one’s normal consciousness to enter into a heightened or higher state of consciousness. That sort of thing is discussed in the article on The Highest State of Consciousness.

However, as he explains it, the experience of the modern son of man was not merely having experienced ecstacy. Through divine revelation he was given the key to open the “Book of Life,” to go through the spiritual gate by opening the “seven seals of revelation,” also called the “seven chakras,” and being carried away in spirit to that high and holy place where God inhabits eternity.

I doubt that we will come to a meeting of the minds. But if we don't try, we're as bad as all the people who have their heels dug in in self-righteous defiance.
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