%% WELL you noticed the rabbit trails/ that's ok ; but Jesus Christ, refering to himself still says'' I AM the way , the truth + the life'' And he knows the past + future + says ; ''I will build my church. '' Nice try + he still heals today...…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
I am a proponent of what Jesus actually said regardless the many rabbit trails leading away from that message. Understanding what he said it's easy to see that the bible hijacks his message and even puts words in his mouth the way they put nails in his hands (and then put a sign over his head as if he said I am the king of the jews, of which he stated the opposite). So while he may have said "I am the way the truth and life" I doubt he said "I will build my church". He was NOT the Jew's messiah, having nothing to do with any kind of ruling hierarchy upon this world including a theological hierarchy. However: "I am..." is a reference to his original state of being, what I call Christ! (but not messiah because the messiah has an earthly empire). "...the way" is a reference to the way Jesus has accepted salvation, by accepting himself as this Christ! (an original being existing unchanged and unchangeable in "glory"). "...the truth" is a reference to the nature of Christ, not the nature of man, including the nature of Jesus (which is also the nature of man). Fully understood, Christ is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. This also means Christ is reality, implying everything within man's world is somehow an untrue imagination. "...life" is also a reference to the nature of Christ, not man. Technically speaking , man is not actually alive except that it sucks the blood of Christ like a vampire. Meaning , man is an imaginary (a lie) illusion that has an experience of something it calls "life" at the expense of Christ. Meaning, man must sacrifice Christ to death in order to "live". As such, all such "lives" are a LIE including black, white and red "lives". Thus, the "relationship " between man and Christ is CONVERSE and/or mutually exclusive. Thus, the only way to saves one's life is to lay down ones "life" (so-called) as a "man" (or woman or Jew or Greek or slave or free) so as to be able to take it up again as "Christ" so called. This is the "path" that Jesus blazed, expecting the rest of the fragmented Christ to "follow". The Lord's Supper is a ritual that ought to teach what I just said. Man needs to be reminded that his so called "existence" comes at the expense of one's very soul, which is Christ. As the one loaf is "broken" (sacrificed , killed) it changes into the fragments of man and man's world. This fragmentation (separation) is the condition of the "dead Christ". The dead Christ is anything that can be built with atoms, or even smaller particles. All particles , even the smallest "god particles " are lies we tell ourselves through an imagination. Thus, man is made "in the image of" that which imagines things. And while "particle physics" may rule man's world, those "laws" (ie gravity) do not rule the domain of Christ. Meanwhile, the domain of Christ and Christ are the same. Because of this, "the kingdom of god is within you" means You Are The Domain Of Christ! To the degree you accept this as the truth , you more or less follow the "way" Jesus blazed.
Yes I'm well acquainted with it. More familiar with it than a lot (most?) of Christians. But I don't own one anymore. I go by memory or look things up on the internet. It's there in several versions. But no, I never read it any more since maybe 18 years ago or more. If I'm speaking with Christians face to face, I go without it, speaking only from memory. I made $50 this way one time when a Christian misquoted Jesus. I said, "Paul said that" . When he argued I proposed the bet. He took the bet and eventually paid me to his credit.
Christianity has not been hijacked, Christianity has been marginalized. I think Islam has been hijacked for years, same with Judaism.
Christianity was hijacked the minute Popes and Priests started receiving money and gaining wealth...then all of a sudden the story changed to make the Church all powerful and remove all challenges...
I dont see Catholics driving planes into buildings or making young children wear suicide vests. Welcome to Islam.
Arguably, Judeo-Christianity hijacked Judaism and Mohammmmud hijacked both, stealing the idea of a book from "the peoples of the book". Seeing how books can mesmerize a crowd, he made up his own. Seeing how prophets were idolized with no verification of their veracity, he hijacked the concept of prophet. Arguably without father Judaism and mother Judeo-Christianity, there would be no wild child Islam to mock (mimic ) them and torment them both, as well the whole world. Hijack implies something was stolen and driven away from something else that was legitimate . But I don't see mother Judeo-Christianity or father Judaism as legitamate representatives of a Good. Islam is what happens when theology drifts into ridiculousness , inviting more, darker ridicule, from mockers.
One does see that thousands of Catholics as priests and clergy attacked and sexually abused countless numbers of young children all over the world. Welcome to Christianity.