...reform Judaism and failed miserably?
@Ashira: I would guess that having received rabbinical training, he was familiar with the tenets of Judaism and didn't think they were being followed strictly enough.
@Ashira again: Shoko Ashara, Joseph Smith, Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, Sun Myung Moon, Jim Jones, L. Ron Hubbard all thought they were doing god's work, too. I can't answer why they would.
All cult leaders were charismatic. Jesus was also a Jew and practiced Jewish laws. So I'm going to say yes.
If only you atheists had lives...
when a person is in the kingdom of satan, there WILL be outward signs ... your red eyes.
' having received rabbinical training ...'
show me WHERE in scripture that this happened.
When Jesus was 12, He followed His parents to the temple .
there, at 12 yrs of age, He expounded scripture.
christians are not the followers of an illiterate man.
when you make an assertion, PROVE it thru scripture or you're a LIAR, a typical ignoramus used by satan to spew lying propaganda.
Since his offshoot of Judaism seems to be more popular than the original, why are you saying he failed? He reformed Judaism for sure, now whether this new and reformed Judaism is anything like he wanted it to be, that's another question.
I'm sure when Martin Luther started the Reformation, modern Protestantism is not at all what he had in mind, eh?
I see you failed the test of faith.
No; he was really just a young Jewish guy who tried to bring a little basic Judaism to the masses, and got crucified for his troubles. By the standards of his day, he was probably pretty well educated, as he could apparently speak Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek (and probably Latin as well).
I don't really think he wanted to reform anything; except for divorce, he pretty much stuck to the book. I doubt he had much of a following during his lifetime, despite what NT accounts say; if he'd been that well known, historians of his day would have written about him, and the fact is that they didn't. I can't fault him for idealism, but taking on the Romans wasn't too bright.
Had it not been for a really good PR man with connections to Rome (Paul), he'd have been just another anonymous messiah-wannabe; it wasn't like he was the only one crucified, after all. The serious screw-up in the picture was Paul himself, who took Jesus' "Judaism 101" message and twisted it beyond recognition. The rest, as they say, is (sadly) history.
Unsophisticated? Read The Sermon on the Mount: Matthew ch 5-7. Especially the last parable that Jesus tells at the very end of chapter 7. The foolish man he is talking about there is you. But you can change. God loves you for "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us". Amazing grace.
Reform Judaism? No. Fulfil the Jewish scriptures is what he came to do. And he did.
Do you not want to be part of the next stage of human history? The new heaven and new earth wherein dwell etch righteousness? It is on the way. A new order. God intends to make everything new.....including you! In fact you must be born again if you are to fit into the new order of things. You must be re-created ( a new creation) in Christ. Jesus is Lord.