The stories about the life and teachings of Jesus were mainly told in Greek, the original language of the gospels.
What I'm trying to argue, as passionately as I can, is that the Jesus story isn't worth dying for, it's worth living for. Jesus presents a third way, a way of being in the worth that embraces the Sermon on the Mount, with its challenge to violence and greed.
God is God, but he has various names in different languages, and each strand of monotheistic religion has multiple ways of describing the godhead.
I have always found the baptism of Jesus, with a dove descending and voice from Heaven, one of the great moments in the Jesus story. This is where Jesus hears the deep call from God.
The core of the Jesus message is what has made him relevant for twenty centuries.
The whole Christmas story was probably a later addition to the gospel narratives, presented only by the authors of Matthew and Luke. Mark and John seem never to have heard of the manger in Bethlehem, the Massacre of the Innocents, the hovering star, the three wise men, and so forth.
I'm tired of hearing about this 'well-regulated militia' that is so necessary for American freedom.
I think that the practice of religion allows one to discover emotional and psychological truth of a kind not available in the secular world.
The most dazzling aspect of 'Possession' is Ms. Byatt's canny invention of letters, poems and diaries from the 19th century.
It's not unusual for socio-economic, even racial or ethnic, groups to cluster.