Cynicism and Christianity

Before I go to work on Thursday nights, I usually grab the Maroon to read at the desk when its not busy. Now I opened it up to find someone quote the Bible, and then proceeded to emphasize realized eschatology. My purpose of this is not intentional to tackle the issue of how to interpret the Bible, but I find it does an incredible disservice to the Christian community to interpret the Bible incorrectly.

I know that comparing Jesus to Cynicism is nothing new, but this past week learning Cynicism has allowed me to make many connections myself. And its not like the theologians/historians are blowing smoke. Jesus' lifestyle, as described in any account we have of Him, is remarkably similar to a Cynic's lifestyle: he wandered around surviving on the bare minimum, he overturned tables in the Temple where people were selling goods (something I can imagine Diogenes doing if he subscribed to a mainstream religion), and he preached a very simple lifestyle. His way of life, out of all the Hellenistic philosophies, most closely resembles Cynicism.

Back to the realized eschatology portion. From the parallels I have drawn, I do not think Jesus' message can be interpreted as Him wanting to to have an abundant life now without looking at the text upside-down. I think these parallels can give us a deeper understanding of Jesus' teachings, and help understand the true nature of Christianity.