A conversation with devotees on 3-25-08 about karma, prostitution, Vedic culture and Christianity

Summary:

In this a conversation H.D. Goswami points out that the term Vedic culture is not literal Sanskrit and that it is rather a set of objective principles rather than ethnic details like a certain way of cooking, dressing, music, architecture, marriage rites etc.  There is also not only one position one certain topics like cloning etc.

He further speaks about the history of Christianity, the socio-political mood of Israel at the time of Jesus and the direction the Jesus movement took. Paul made the Jesus movement successful among the congregational Jews how didn’t want to follow the strict formal rules of Judaism by adjusting the teachings of Jesus. Former pagans converted and accepted Jesus. They imposed their own features of pagan culture on the Jesus movement (like polytheism which became the trinity and the idea of man becoming God). Unless Jesus, the son of man became God just like great Roman emperors like Julius Cesar and his son Augustus he wouldn’t have been accepted as the Messiah.

The book of John was written in Greek, a language which Jesus didn’t speak, with Greek quotes of Jesus. John changed historical details to make philosophical points.