Reply #3: I've found the words quoted in Matthew and Mark, as well

[Warpy]

as in the suppressed gospel of Thomas to be incredibly inspiring, but I reject the whole myth, especially the Romanized part where he got kicked upstairs to be a god. The problem with kicking him upstairs like that is that it relieves his followers of the necessity of taking his words seriously and trying to live them. They just aren't practical for human beings, you see. He only said that stuff 'cause he was a god.

I find the Old Testament to be a Bowdlerized history of a nomadic people who were starting to settle down and turn to agriculture; not much use as historical fact, but very useful for the mythic foundation of our culture. Plus, some of the stories are wonderful, especially when you read between the lines and you know that a lot of it got cribbed from the Sumerians.

If the fundies have been good for anything, they've caused a lot of people to start asking questions about what a Christian really is, whether idolatry of riches and power can ever be considered Christian and whether or not a cafeteria approach to Leviticus can ever equal morality.

It will be interesting to follow the debate as it progresses.