The resounding theme of the book is everything is about jesus, its a message of the love of god through his son. Religion is a very poor container for jesus and his ideas. He communicates a strong message of how jesus is greater than religion. Some scholars wonder why the gospels accounts of jesus trial possibly a brief hearing seem to contradict later jewish laws.
Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of god. This book revolutionized both my personal relationship with christ and my understanding of what it is to be a member of the body of christ. Creedal christianity versus bad religion home facebook. For those not familiar with jeff bethke, the introduction of his book, jesus religion begins with a portion of the poem that made him so well known, why i hate religion but love jesus. After reading this book, it will require fight or flight. Religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal god or gods. Christianity is unique in the fact that it is the only faith which is not a religion as a religion by definition means to be bound by rules and regulations and rituals in order that one may attain salvation. However, practically speaking, christianity has a key difference that separates it from other belief systems that are considered religions. The latter is a diverse cacophony of gods, goddesses, pantheism, deism, and theism as varied as there are different people groups and cultures around the world. In jesus religion bethke unpacks the start contrasts that he drew in the poem contrasts between teeth gritting and grace, law and love, performance and peace, despair and hope. With refreshing candor, he delves into the motivation behind his message, beginning with the unvarnished tale of his own plunge from the pinnacle of a worksbased, fakesmile existence that sapped his strength and. Jesus religion by jefferson bethke audiobook download.
To illustrate the difference between jesus and the religion based partly upon him, please consider these statements. In that respect, christianity can be classified as a religion. Mormonism, beginning in 1830, presents another testament of jesus christ via the book of mormona translated account from ancient america. Two new testament responses from the churches founded by paul by marianne p. Along his journey, bethke discovered the real jesus, who beckoned him beyond the props of false religion. I have compiled a list of jesus through the bible, starting in genesis and ending.
To defend traditional christian beliefs from the attacks of the two major cults mormonism and jehovah. Jesus is harsh with the religious people because they are wolves who close their eyes to the light, make rules for god, want praise for themselves, and defend their idols. Jefferson bethke why i hate religion, but love jesus. In the gospels, jesus was questioned, pestered, and persecuted by religionists. Religion witness lee examines the life of christ in the gospels. The history of christian reflection on the teachings and nature of jesus is examined in the article christology. Something that i have grown to appreciate in life is a good message.
On the cross, jesus carried all of our sins for us and paid for them. In jesus religion, bethke unpacks the stark contrasts that he drew in the poemcontrasts between teeth gritting and grace, law and love, performance and peace, despair and hope. Faith, growth in faith, and blessings of god equipping, spiritual church, increasing spirit filled men additions the holy. The screwtape letters study guide god versus religion. Whats the difference between jesus and the religions in.
I was going through some of the screwtape letters study guides on the net for this book. What scientists really think by elaine ecklund, science and religion arent that incompatible. The calling of every believer is to come to the living person of christ, leaving behind all religious forms and dead doctrines. But again over time, religion brought these things to the followers of jesus and established them as fixed structures. Jesus quoted the bible infrequently, and even then mostly to contrast his teachings with it or when he was challenged. A talented young believer posted a video of himself delivering a poem last week about whats wrong the church today and the thing has gone crazy. Jefferson walks the reader through his history with religion and jesus. Jeffs book will make you stop and listen to a voice in your heart that may have been drowned out by. Lee traces the theme of christ versus religion through the entire new testament, book by book. When confronted with questions related to religion, politics, and even the interpretation of the scriptures, he exposed their preoccupation with dead knowledge and pointed people to.
Jesus, son of mary, or jesus, is the penultimate prophet and messenger of god and the messiah, sent to guide the children of israel with a new revelation. Jesus offers us forgiveness because as god, he paid for our sin for us. Times religion writer russell chandler, in his 1988 book understanding the new age, over 42% of americans believe that they have been in touch with someone who has died. It literally became an overnight sensation, with 7. Christ versus religion by witness lee nook book ebook. Doing this, he reconstructs the life and teachings of jesus, showing the real content and significance of what jesus said and what he did. Jesus is all and everything his presence in every book of the bible hello all. Welcome to comment and enjoy christ jesus in these profound. Many on the internet seem to think so, and this video addresses this claim. Yes, 26 million filled with jeffersons own story, the book is raw and authentic. Why i hate religion, but love jesus spoken word youtube. A poem i wrote to highlight the difference between jesus and false religion.
It is about time that i own up to my tag line of jesus is all and everything, and prove that he truly is. Jeff bethkes poem jesus religion was written, and introduced, in 2012 through a 4minute video titled, why i hate religion, but love jesus. Jesus plus anything, even religion, ruins everything. This is why another post about religion versus jesus is necessary. As in the christian new testament, the quran the central religious text of islam describes jesus as the messiah.
This revolutionary religion is based on the reality of personal spiritual experience. When jefferson bethkes video went viral in early 2012, what impressed me even more than his spoken word poetry was how he responded to his critics. Whether youre a christian or not, it is a challenging book. We found that they were maybe too structured didnt leave enough room to really consider life our lives the things actually happening and how to relate them to both the bible and to the things that encounter every day. Jesus suffered, died, and was buried, on the third day he rose again. So they cover the bases, so to speak, and go to church for both. But what if i told you that choosing between the two of them is kind of like forgetting that there are four bases in baseball. It doesnt matter if youve never set foot inside a church or were practically born in the sanctuary, you will be challenged by this book to examine jesus more deeply and pursue him more passionately. He is regarded by most christians as the incarnation of god.
Simply to share excerpts from christ versus religion by witness lee published by living stream ministry. That covering the bases thing is leaving out two really. Jesus directly opposed hierarchy and trashed the concept of status. Jesus validated this claim through the immutable fact of his resurrection. Matthew 26 commentary religious leaders versus jesus. Jefferson bethke is the author of jesus religion 4. Why he is so much better than trying harder, doing more, and being good enough kindle edition by bethke, jefferson, lecrae. Jesus is the central figure of christianity, believed by christians to be the messiah, the son of god and the second person in the trinity. Jefferson bethke has recently published jesus religion. Religious rules are all about the externalnot the internaland raise human preferences to the level of gods laws.
The religion of jesus is the religion that jesus himself practiced, and the religion that he preached to his followers. But in the first place, it is unlikely that these firstcentury aristocrats were as concerned with legal procedure as later rabbis were. In the years subsequent to his life, crucifixion, and resurrection, this religion of jesus was transformed into the religion about jesus, i. All in all, jesus religion is a helpful book for anyone interested in christianity. Christianity is about a person, and his name is jesus. Jeffs book will make you stop and listen to a voice in your heart that may have been drowned out by the noise of religion. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Every sunday except during summer, when most things unitarian go on summer vacation, my church has a first hour discussion group before the church service. Jesus, also called jesus christ, jesus of galilee, or jesus of nazareth, born c. Jesus rose from the dead three days after he was crucified. Since so many people only go to church on christmas and easter, im guessing its a tough choice.
After viewing this video when it came out on youtube. In both word and deed, jesus astounded and even offended the religionists of his day. In jesus religion, bethke unpacks contrasts similar to those he drew in the poem highlighting the difference between teeth gritting and grace, law and love, performance and peace, despair and hope. Jesus, god in human form and the founder of christianity, said this in john 14.
Why he is so much better than trying harder, doing more, and being good enough. It is a painful experience to really hunger and thirst. While many people now regard jesus as the founder of christianity, it is important to note that he did not intend to establish a new religion, at least. Dibelius describes the new testament as the humanly conditioned deposit of an historical event, and considers that the crucial question in the struggle over christianity is whether god made his will manifest in this event. The books title and content are inspired by his spokenword video, why i hate religion, but love jesus, which has been viewed 26 million times. Throughout jesusreligion, jefferson does a great job of pointing the reader to a true picture of who jesus by referring to biblical texts unfortunately he does close the book with the messages version of matthew 11. In the scriptures jesus received the most opposition from the most religious people of his day.
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