Is Jesus REALY the only way???

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

not according to my new found religion, I'm a Liberal Quaker!

is that realy a quot? wow you really put it in prespective!

John 8:32 (AMP)
32 And you will know the Truth , and the Truth will set you free.

But know this, God is a fair and just God. Let no human tell you that any other human knows that heart of another or their eternal destination.

Austin 3:16 - I just kicked your ass!

If it came from anyone else, you'd think they were completely full of themselves.

wheefun!

Actually if you study the culture out a bit, you find out that this is actually meant to be some what of a joke. The way, the truth, and the life is a slang way of describing the temple for Jews in this period. The way is the nickname of the altar outside the courtyard that allows you to enter the truth where there is a basin of water made of mirrors that allows you to clean yourself as you look at yourself. If you are a priest you can enter the life which is the holy place only priests are allowed into. If you look at the context, you will see why this makes sense. This is also where he talks about his body being destroyed and rebuilt in 3 days. Modern day christians miss alot of the subtleties in the bible that would only be understood by someone that either studies that culture or is a part of it. This is a joke in the same way as the parable about spreading seeds is considered to be a joke. It is an outrageous statement that seems exagerated like a farmer who just throws his seeds around randomly.

Now much more interesting than all of this is the Fox's book of martyrs where we learn just how many christians have been killed by christians.

Has someone verified this through scientific experimentation? Perhaps the letter to the Physical Review is covered in John 14:7?

Wait.... which 'only way' was that, again?

-Ghoti

Hooray!

We get to put cinnamon in our breakfast oatmeal.
It's the Quaker picker-upper.

Jesus is the only to say He is the only way to God. The others don't make that claim.

Ghoti, I don't know if I've mentioned it recently, but you rock.

He also said some other things that were important, like a rich man will get to heaven when a camel can walk through the eye of a needle, and we should give up our earthly posessions... Or "this one commandment I give you, that you should love one another"... Or, of course, most importantly, when he said "That love eachother thing... Well, applies, except when they're not Christian, arguing with you, or from Neualtenburg, in that case it's OK to be mean spirited and hateful"... right?

If you are asking me if it's ok to be mean, the answer you'll get from me is "Absolutely not!".

I hope you don't mistake my strong stand on issues as being mean. I try very hard to listen to other's opinions and respond thoughtfully. If you see me acting mean, please let me know. That is assuming we agree the word mean = unkind.

I would say you are being less than mean.
assuming mean = average

All of those claim to be the way to enlightenment. Call it 'god', call it 'nirvana', call it 'gnosis', call it "I AM" (my personal favorite)... call it whatever... "No one comes to [it] except through [my way of enlightenment]."

-Ghoti

John is speaking of god consciousness (the Christ) taking human form via the historical Jesus. Not the first, not the last, not the only historical occurance.

Christ consciousniess has been incarnating in human form on this planet since before recorded history for the purpse of giving all of creation a spiritual push. Stay tuned, this has happend before, and will happen again.

God is love, all paths lead to God, all creation is God's.

Ramen.

-Ghoti

My sentiments exactly. And, "Excellent!"

I also think it's relevant that he was talking to a large group of Jews, and said "No one comes to my father but through me", meaning, "You can't continue to follow the laws in Leviticus(stoning disobedient children, not eating shellfish or pork, ect), that is not the path to enlightment, I have a new path to show you."

>>In the sky there is no track. Outside [the Buddha's dispensation] there is no saint. Mankind delights in obstacles. The Tathagatas are free from obstacles.

~Buddhism. Dhammapada 254


Well, point of fact I think Kevn is right on this one.

Buddha denied all other saints, but he did not elevate himself to be godlike.

His whole point was 'live this way and your life will be good' - the Middle Path, or Moderation.

It was in direct contrast to certain forms of Hinduism of the time, where many sought enlightenment through extreme forms of austerity, asceticism and so forth.

He had tried these himself - and when he failed to gain enlightenment through the usual methods (starvation, deprivation, pain &c) he called 'em all crazy and suggested simple, down-to-earth moderation. Some precepts he kept - the concept of material desire causing a lot of problems, for instance.

Since then, billions have found some wisdom in that.

Sadly, others took his words out of context, and raised his image up in a godlike manner after his death - precisely what he claimed he was not.

- Desmond Shang

This is one of my favorite bible lines. Do a search for the words "I am" in the old testament. Not only will you learn that Jesus is saying he is the only way to God, he is trying to explain that he is God himself.

"First, turn to Exodus 3, where Moses encounters God in the burning bush. God tells Moses that he is the one He has chosen to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses says to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me 'What is His name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God replies to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God has said that His own name, His personal name, is "I AM." "

"Jesus says in John 10:11-18 that he is the Good Shepherd. When you read this passage along with Ezekiel 34:1-16, you can see that Jesus was identifying Himself with God, who pronounced Himself Shepherd over Israel. The Jewish people, being an agrarian and shepherding society, knew and dearly loved this section of the Old Testament because God was using a metaphor they lived every day. So when Jesus said, "I am the Good Shepherd," and that whole John passage so clearly parallels the Ezekiel passage, there was no doubt that He was claiming to be God."


"During Christ's trial, the chief priests asked Him point blank, "Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." And He said,


"I am." (Mark 14:60-62)
"Yes, it is as you say." (Matt. 26: 63-65)
"You are right in saying I am." (Luke 22:67-70) "

This is just one page that details it: http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/claims.html

It is quite facinating I think.

Being the son of God does not equate to being God.

Could the Evengelicals on this forum *please* stop proselytizing? You're not getting any converts here. All you're doing is giving Christianity a bad name. People deal with religion on their own terms. Maybe if all the preachers shut up for a moment, people could look at Jesus's teachings and make up their own minds.

If you ask me, Evangelicals are wimpy Christians. They have to rely on someone *else* telling them what's right, what's moral, and what's good. News Flash....It's Written In Our Hearts. Even many atheists believe we humans know the difference between right and wrong. I follow the teaching of the Holy Bible....but I don't need it. I have a copy of it within me. I call my Lord Jesus, who had a spark of the Christ within him on Earth, just like Merwan has said. Many people call him many other names.

Evangelizing isn't about getting names into the Christian Club. It's about extoling the virtues that make you a good person. Most religious zealots forget this in their fervor.

What makes you a Christian...or whatever you want to call your moral belief...is that you love people, you help them, you be excellent to one another.

AND PARTY ON, D00DZ!