On the Necessity of Christianity for Grounding Modern Ethics:
Websites on the Practical Way of Rabbi Jesus:
Articles on How there is not a "True Church Building" and how the original church was not a building or hierarchical institution but simply the gathering of Christians in homes or shops or outdoors to live a Christ-like lifestyle:
> Unchurching: Christianity without Churchianity by Richard Jacobson (the first part of his book)
> The Unchurching Comic Book: Why Christians Don't Need to Go to Church
(Also check out Richard Jacobson's free videos on his YouTube Channel)
> Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola (the Introduction)
> A Summary of Origins: A Short Summary of Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola with Dates showing each Pagan development over time
> The Pastor: Where Did He Come From? by Frank Viola
> Rethinking Leadership in the New Testament by Frank Viola
> Knife to a Gun Fight: Misinterpreting the Purpose and Place of The New Testament by Shaun McCraney (To listen to the free audio book see hotm.faith)
> (For an opposing viewpoint see): Why You Should Go to Church (Even If You’re Not Sure of Your Beliefs) by Brett and Kate McKay | April 14, 2017
On the Healing Usefulness of Belief in God:
> Former Atheist Anthony Hopkins Reveals Encounter That Led Him to God (2018) by Tré Goins-Phillips
On your God-concept:
> Characterofgod.org : Although this website does not defend Universalism, which is my belief, it has some good ideas about how we perceive God conceptually and presents the atonement theory called the Biblical Healing Model (which is against the Traditional Legal Model)
On Understanding the Historical Jesus in his Jewish and Roman Times & Context
> Covered in the Dust of Your Rabbi: An Urban Legend? by ourrabbijesus.com
> Jesus And The Traditions Of The Elders (Matthew 15:1-20) by Allen Ross. From the Series: An Exposition of the Gospel of Matthew
> Encyclopedia of the Bible article "Tradition of the Elders" at Biblegateway.com
> First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom of God Participant Reader by
livingthequestions.com
On the New Testament as Parabolic Scripturalization (or Midrash; a.k.a Figural Reading):
> Scripturalized Narrative in the Gospel of Mark and the Second Temple Period (SBL Annual Meeting, 2020) by Nathanael Vette. This short article does an excellent job summarizing how the Gospel of Mark is largely a midrashic or a narrative scripturalization of Old Testament texts.
> Covered in the Dust of Your Rabbi: An Urban Legend? by ourrabbijesus.com
> Jesus And The Traditions Of The Elders (Matthew 15:1-20) by Allen Ross. From the Series: An Exposition of the Gospel of Matthew
> Encyclopedia of the Bible article "Tradition of the Elders" at Biblegateway.com
> First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom of God Participant Reader by
livingthequestions.com
On the New Testament as Parabolic Scripturalization (or Midrash; a.k.a Figural Reading):
> Scripturalization in Mark’s Crucifixion Narrative by Mark Goodacre
> Midrash in the New Testament. Posted on February 17, 2014 by jesuswithoutbaggage
> Midrash in the New Testament by Kasper Bro Larsen
> Midrash and the New Testament: A Methodology for the Study of Gospel Midrash by Miguel Pérez Fernández. See page 367 of the ebook Pdf here. If link does not work, search Google for the book The New Testament and Rabbinic Literature: Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, Editor Hindy Najman Volume 136.
> The Interpretation of Scripture: The Use of the Old Testament in the New (Links to several Articles on Midrash or Figural Reading of the Hebrew Bible into the New Testament)
On Paul, "Grace", Salvation, Christ-like Consciousness, and Theosis:
> Midrash in the New Testament by Kasper Bro Larsen
> Midrash and the New Testament: A Methodology for the Study of Gospel Midrash by Miguel Pérez Fernández. See page 367 of the ebook Pdf here. If link does not work, search Google for the book The New Testament and Rabbinic Literature: Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, Editor Hindy Najman Volume 136.
> The Interpretation of Scripture: The Use of the Old Testament in the New (Links to several Articles on Midrash or Figural Reading of the Hebrew Bible into the New Testament)
On Paul, "Grace", Salvation, Christ-like Consciousness, and Theosis:
> The Divine Presence “I Am” by jeshua21.wordpress.com. This article points to the Eternal Presence of God, the divine silence of God between breaths, and shows how the Gospel of John teaches Theosis.
> The Image of God in You by jeshua21.wordpress.com
> Christian Mindfulness by christiansimplicity.com
> Is ‘mindfulness’ Christian? (October 7, 2016) by Ian Paul
> 1 CORINTHIANS 11:3-16: Spirit Possession and Authority in a non-Pauline Interpolation by Christopher Mount
> E.P. Sanders and the New Perspective on Paul by Jordan Cooper (this article covers participationist theory or mystical union with Christ)
> Albert Schweitzer on being "in Christ" (A Review with Quotes)
> Coming of age and putting on Christ: The Toga virilis ceremony, its paraenesis, and Paul's interpretation of baptism in Galatians by J. Albert Harrill
> Keeping the End in View: how the strange yet familiar doctrine of theosis can invigorate the Christian life by James R. Payton, Jr. (Source: Christianity Today. 52.10 (Oct. 2008): p66).
> Pauline Ethics & Grace by Jason Staples
> The Image of God in You by jeshua21.wordpress.com
> Christian Mindfulness by christiansimplicity.com
> Is ‘mindfulness’ Christian? (October 7, 2016) by Ian Paul
> 1 CORINTHIANS 11:3-16: Spirit Possession and Authority in a non-Pauline Interpolation by Christopher Mount
> E.P. Sanders and the New Perspective on Paul by Jordan Cooper (this article covers participationist theory or mystical union with Christ)
> Albert Schweitzer on being "in Christ" (A Review with Quotes)
> Coming of age and putting on Christ: The Toga virilis ceremony, its paraenesis, and Paul's interpretation of baptism in Galatians by J. Albert Harrill
> Keeping the End in View: how the strange yet familiar doctrine of theosis can invigorate the Christian life by James R. Payton, Jr. (Source: Christianity Today. 52.10 (Oct. 2008): p66).
> Pauline Ethics & Grace by Jason Staples
On God's Realm as God's Organic Abode or God's Garden; Christianity as a Non-Creedal, Mystical, Organic Faith: emphasizing Ethical Fruition using Gardening Metaphors:
Evidence Showing why Biblical Fundamentalism is Inherently Problematic:
> EXCERPT from Frank Viola's book Regrace: Seven Shocking Beliefs that C.S. Lewis Held!
> Believers' estimates of God's beliefs are more egocentric than estimates of other people's beliefs by PNAS (2009 December). From the abstract: "People often reason egocentrically about others' beliefs, using their own beliefs as an inductive guide. Correlational, experimental, and neuroimaging evidence suggests that people may be even more egocentric when reasoning about a religious agent's beliefs (e.g., God). ... people's own beliefs on important social and ethical issues were consistently correlated more strongly with estimates of God's beliefs than with estimates of other people's beliefs ..."
> LifeWay Research: Americans Are Fond of the Bible, Don’t Actually Read It (April 25, 2017
> 80% of Churchgoers Don't Read Bible Daily by Jeremy Weber, Sept. 07, 2012
> Christians: More Like Jesus or Pharisees? Research Releases in Faith & Christianity by barna.com (June 3, 2013). This article reveals that Evangelical Fundamentalists are active politically in social issues causing much harm, and actually about half of Fundamentalists act like the sect of Pharisees that Jesus opposed; only one out of seven Christians act Christ-like according to the research.
> Survey: Frequent Bible Reading Can Turn You Liberal: What a surprising survey says about how reading the Bible frequently can turn you liberal (in some ways) by Aaron B. Franzen, Oct. 12, 2011. The fact is that most Fundamentalist are politically conservative in their views, which shows that Fundamentalism is the result of extra-biblical church dogma and groupthink, not biblical literacy. To read the details of how Bible reading makes you more liberal, and on which issues, see Study Shows: Reading Your Bible Often Will Make You A Flaming Liberal by Benjamin Corey (Nov. 2, 2013). However, this article should be tempered by Does Bible Reading Make People More Liberal? by Jason A. Staples.
> Taxing the rich to help the poor? What the Bible says isn’t what the GOP says: Biblical principles have provided an understanding on how to help the needy by Mathew Schmalz (12.18.2017).
> Believers' estimates of God's beliefs are more egocentric than estimates of other people's beliefs by PNAS (2009 December). From the abstract: "People often reason egocentrically about others' beliefs, using their own beliefs as an inductive guide. Correlational, experimental, and neuroimaging evidence suggests that people may be even more egocentric when reasoning about a religious agent's beliefs (e.g., God). ... people's own beliefs on important social and ethical issues were consistently correlated more strongly with estimates of God's beliefs than with estimates of other people's beliefs ..."
> LifeWay Research: Americans Are Fond of the Bible, Don’t Actually Read It (April 25, 2017
> 80% of Churchgoers Don't Read Bible Daily by Jeremy Weber, Sept. 07, 2012
> Christians: More Like Jesus or Pharisees? Research Releases in Faith & Christianity by barna.com (June 3, 2013). This article reveals that Evangelical Fundamentalists are active politically in social issues causing much harm, and actually about half of Fundamentalists act like the sect of Pharisees that Jesus opposed; only one out of seven Christians act Christ-like according to the research.
> Survey: Frequent Bible Reading Can Turn You Liberal: What a surprising survey says about how reading the Bible frequently can turn you liberal (in some ways) by Aaron B. Franzen, Oct. 12, 2011. The fact is that most Fundamentalist are politically conservative in their views, which shows that Fundamentalism is the result of extra-biblical church dogma and groupthink, not biblical literacy. To read the details of how Bible reading makes you more liberal, and on which issues, see Study Shows: Reading Your Bible Often Will Make You A Flaming Liberal by Benjamin Corey (Nov. 2, 2013). However, this article should be tempered by Does Bible Reading Make People More Liberal? by Jason A. Staples.
> Taxing the rich to help the poor? What the Bible says isn’t what the GOP says: Biblical principles have provided an understanding on how to help the needy by Mathew Schmalz (12.18.2017).
On "the-satan" as a Metaphor for Individuals and Groups that are Adversaries of the Good Way and Lie & Wrongly Accuse:
> THE SATAN - by Michael Hardin - episode 16 - "Demythologizing The satan
Diagrams and Images:
> Diagrams of Moses & the Hebrew Temple
> Diagrams from Maps of Meaning by Jordan Peterson
> Diagrams of Moses & the Hebrew Temple
> Diagrams from Maps of Meaning by Jordan Peterson
On Preterism vs. Futurism, i.e. The Kingdom Already Here Now vs. Rapture-End Times Dogma:
On Sex
On the Afterlife:
> Universalism and the Bible: The Really Good News By Keith DeRose
> The Absurdity of an Eternal Hell by Jason Micheli
> God, Creation, and Evil: The Moral Meaning of creatio ex nihilo by
David Bentley Hart. In this article Hart critiques the dogma of hell.
> See Steven Cook's articles on hell and Jesus in the Bible at https://blog.stephencook.com.au/
> Universalism and the Bible: The Really Good News By Keith DeRose
> The Absurdity of an Eternal Hell by Jason Micheli
> God, Creation, and Evil: The Moral Meaning of creatio ex nihilo by
David Bentley Hart. In this article Hart critiques the dogma of hell.
