Most people who have read the Bible, attended a Christian Church or shown an interest in Jesus, will recognise those words. The problem is it, like most statements, and today�s politicians will certainly understand, are open to different interpretations, depending on the reader's viewpoint. Especially when the statement was made 2000 years ago, without the benefit of today�s technologies for recording and broadcasting.
They were made by a man to a small group of friends and followers, and written down much later, probably after his death and most likely after many years had passed. They would have been written according to the listener�s memory of events, possible by a third party, and in the language of the writer, which may not have been the listener�s native tongue or dialect. This was then translated over the centuries, into Greek, Latin, French, English, Spanish, and whatever other languages, until we end up with the words we read today. During the course of each translation the reader/writer would undoubtedly used his own understanding of the words possible changing the emphasis on certain phrases to meet his level of competence with the languages concerned.
On top of this we have the periods in history when the only people who could read or write were in the main the clergy, the texts were in Latin, and the Cleric/Priest/Pope, whoever was deemed to be the only one able to interpret the sacred texts. History reveals to us that not all these men of God were all they should have been from a moral/ethical point of view.
So the traditional interpretation, made by the Hierarchy of the Church, and one that should not be questioned is:
You cannot get to heaven unless you follow the teachings of the Church and worship Jesus.
That to me is a perfectly unacceptable interpretation, especially for the worship part, as Jesus is also reported to have rejected that concept. But the Church puts great stress on this.
The trouble is the Church does not accept personal views on those teachings, but demands blind obedience to its definitions. You are not supposed to ask questions, seek a deeper understanding, or a fuller explanation, but to do as you are told.
This by the way is also true of other organised and orthodox religions. The Leaders dictate their interpretation of the words of God as given through their Prophets.
An example of this is that in times of conflict or war, each side claims God to be on their side, that they have Right on their side, and that their warriors who fall in battle with the enemy will go straight to Heaven or Paradise. It must be obvious even to a child that this cannot hold true, else all the world�s scriptures would be promoting conflict as a form of worship.
So where does this leave us. Well my belief is on the next page.
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