Jesus, The Perfect Man (Commercial Appeal article)
Jason
Printed in the Commercial Appeal on Christmas Day 2009
Title: "Jesus, The Perfect Man"
There is no other character in history like that of Jesus.
As a preacher, as a doer of things, and as a philosopher, no man ever
had the sweep and the vision of Jesus.
A human analysis of the human actions of Jesus brings to view a rule
of life that is amazing in its perfect detail.
The system of ethics Jesus taught during His earthly sojourn 2,000
years ago was true then, has been true in every century since and will
be true forever.
Plato was a great thinker and learned in his age, but his teachings
did not stand the test of time. In big things and in little things
time and human experience have shown that he erred.
Marcus Aurelius touched the reflective mind of the world, but he was
as cold and austere as brown marble. ...
Thomas a Kempis' ''Imitation of Christ'' is a thing of rare beauty and
sympathy, but it is, as its name indicates, only an imitation.
Sir Thomas More's ''Utopia'' is yet a dream that cannot be realized.
Lord Bacon writing on chemistry and medicine under the glasses of the
man working in a 20th century laboratory is puerile.
The world's most learned doctors until 150 years ago gave dragon's
blood and ground tails of lizards and shells of eggs for certain
ailments. The great surgeons a hundred years ago bled a man if he were
wounded.
Napoleon had the world at his feet for four years, and when he died
the world was going on its way as if he had never lived.
JESUS TAUGHT little as to property because He knew there were things
of more importance than property. He measured property and life, the
body and soul, at their exact relative value. He taught much more as
to character, because character is of more importance than dollars.
Other men taught us to develop systems of government. Jesus taught so
as to perfect the minds of men. Jesus looked to the soul, while other
men dwelled on material things.
After the experience of 2,000 years no man can find a flaw in the
governmental system outlined by Jesus.
Czar and kaiser, president and Socialist, give to its complete merit
their admiration.
No man today, no matter whether he follows the doctrine of Mill, Marx
or George as to property, can find a false principle in Jesus' theory
of property.
In the duty of a man to his fellow no sociologist has ever
approximated the perfection of the doctrine laid down by Jesus in His
Sermon on the Mount.
Not all the investigations of chemists, not all the discoveries of
explorers, not all the experiences of rulers, not all the historical
facts that go to make up the sum of human knowledge on this day in
1912 are in contradiction to one word uttered or one principle laid
down by Jesus.
The human experiences of 2,000 years show that Jesus never made a
mistake. Jesus never uttered a doctrine that was true at that time and
then became obsolete.
Jesus spoke the truth, and the truth is eternal.
History has no record of any other man leading a perfect life or doing
everything in logical order. Jesus is the only person whose every
action and whose every utterance strike a true note in the heart and
mind of every man born of woman. He never said a foolish thing, never
did a foolish act and never dissembled.
No poet, no dreamer, no philosopher loved humanity with all the love
that Jesus bore toward all men.
WHO, THEN, was Jesus?
He could not have been merely a man, for there never was a man who had
two consecutive thoughts absolute in truthful perfection.
Jesus must have been what Christendom proclaims Him to be -- a divine
being -- or He could not have been what He was. No mind but an
infinite mind could have left behind those things which Jesus gave the
world as a heritage.
Jason
Mooney for the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Dec. 12, 1912. Following
our custom of many years we again reprint this famous editorial,
written by a famous Southern editor.
Orson Zedd
OZ
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Jason
editorials about the Perfection of the Koran on Ramadan or the
Perfection of Joseph Smith's teachings and so forth on their
respective holidays. I like the idea of believing in something
perfect though....an ideal...perfection.
If this were true about Jesus, it would be wonderful. However, this
editorial white washes the teachings of Jesus. When a flaw in his
teachings is pointed out, Christians often just claim that the flaw is
"out of context" and so forth. I also think that this concept of
Jesus not having much property is interesting considering the
lifestyle of some of the preachers and the multi-million dollar mega-
churches.
Happy Holidays!
Clogtowner
better than it used to be but........... Valet Parking $37/day Corona
$9 Hamburger $10 plus sides etc. etc.
BC
> Hi y'all - almost everything is open in Miami Beach. The place is much
> better than it used to be but........... Valet Parking $37/day Corona
> $9 Hamburger $10 plus sides etc. etc.
Plan B:
Pre-game in condo,
Walk/run/cycle/hitch/ridebus to eatery,
BYOB,
Kid's menu.
-BC-
ornamentalmind
so, yes, one can make similar assumptions about any person and/or
theology. When it comes to perfection and/or ideals, I’ll take the
knowledge of the ancient Greeks long before any interpretations from
either old or new testament . . . or any translation thereof.
sudo
the CA publishes now is a censored version of the original editorial.
Yep.. they're too embarrassed by the bigoted thinking of their "great"
editor to print the original. I think I found an unedited version
online:
http://www.parispi.net/articles/2009/12/25/opinion/editorials/doc4b326e11ef682988180896.prt
sudo
Clogtowner
though!
> http://www.parispi.net/articles/2009/12/25/opinion/editorials/doc4b32...
>
> sudo