Finally, We Know What Jesus REALLY Taught
I recall way back when candidate George W. Bush made one of his first appearances in a Presidential debate. Candidates were asked their "favorite book." Bush said the Bible. Jesus, he said, was the greatest teacher the world has ever known. I wish he had gone on to tell us what Jesus taught. This is necessary because it is often entertaining to learn what claims are made about Jesus.
One of the most fun items I've come across lately reads:
The metamorphosis of Jesus from a humble servant of the abject poor to a symbol that stands for gun rights, prosperity theology, anti science, limited government that neglects the destitute and fierce nationalism is truly the strangest transformation in human history.
Maybe some readers recall better than I when this remarkable transformation started to take place. I'm so old I remember Republican Presidents back to Eisenhower and then Nixon and Ford. I think Jesus was still the humble servant of the poor back then. Perhaps Jesus began to change about the time of Reagan. It's good that Jesus got his makeover started because we wouldn't want him still back in the 50's. Worse yet would be the Jesus written about during Biblical times. Jesus is so modern today he supports the sexual philanderer, Donald Trump. Then there is this statement, "The culture changes but Christianity does not." Watching and experiencing Christianity all around me for my entire life I can see it changing constantly. Why do the faithful keep maintaining it does not change when it the opposite is so obvious?
I remember years ago watching the Catholic TV show. A couple of guys were discussing Galileo. One of them put on a serious thoughtful face and said, "Just because the Church was wrong back then does not mean it is wrong today." It doesn't mean it's right today either. Critical thinking makes one doubt it is right today.
I've read Jesus said nothing about homosexuality. Yet there are those who proclaim Jesus hates it. It's good there are so many Christians who know what Jesus really thought even when those who wrote about him never said a word on the subject.
What did Jesus teach that resulted in Bible believing and cross carrying Christians breaking into the Capitol? Surely they were guided there by both Trump and Jesus. In the coming years we'll find out new things Jesus taught.
ReplyDeleteIt is said of the Rabbi Jesus that he underwent an astounding transformation during the later years of a “miraculous” ministry, survived a cruel death, and ascended into the clouds. He was proclaimed The Messiah long awaited by many of his tribe. A way of life spawned by this Good News grew painfully from an unorthodox cult into the vast religious movement we know as Christianity. We love to tell the story.
I am not a Christian or a student of the Bible but do cherry-pick verses now and then as do many of the devout faithful. As far as I understand it, the good Rabbi taught Love, Faith, Humility, Forgiveness, Tolerance and the value of Prayer. “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others.”-Mathew 6:5.
Just how the lessons of Love, Faith, Humility, and the rest extend to gun rights, limited government, fierce Christian Nationalism, and the rest seems a long strange trip of crank magnetism(1). Quite the formula; fear, indignation, and anger grounded in love, faith, and humility. Sounds painful. By the way for anyone not averse to science, “white people who identify themselves as political conservatives tend to have a lower threshold for seeing mixed-race Black and white faces as Black.”(2)
Lest we forget, the metamorphosis of Trump into a perverse sort of Conservative Christian messiah is a study in Janus-faced Christianity fit for the history books. To the Evangelical Christians who venerated the Golden Trump Idol at the 2021 CPAC conference, I offer this observation by a brother in Christ(3): “Idolatry is always polytheism, an aimless passing from one lord to another. Idolatry does not offer a journey but rather a plethora of paths leading nowhere and forming a vast labyrinth.” Trump is a tool(4). Jesus was a teacher.
(1) https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Crank_magnetism
(2) https://phys.org/news/2021-03-neuroimaging-reveals-ideology-affects-perception.html
(3) Pope Francis
(4) https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Tool
Interesting article in USA today; Trevor Hughes; "White Nationals Are Once Again Using Christian Symbols to Spread Hate." As did the KKK. Virtually all related to the "evangelicals". It should be acknowledged the difference between being evangelical, (spread the Good News of Justification by Grace through Christ,) and "evangelical" in the sense of a melding of church and state. DO NOT FORGET THAT ! A noted comment is; (paraphrased) " They won't be seen in a church on Sunday morning." Also noted is the comparison/ similarity of the so called "Christian white nationals "with the various radical movements in Islam.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, is "evangelical" an adjective or a noun. All Christians are called to be evangelize, (to be evangelical, to share the Gospel, the adjective thingie), but not all are Evangelicals, capital E, the noun thingie.
ReplyDeletehelper "an adjective or a noun."
DeleteI agree the word "evagelical" is used one way by people in the faith and another way in news coverage and casual references. I've given up trying to differentiate. I've read what we all know, the word increasing refers to Christian hate, i.e., anti gay, anti trans, Republican and anti abortion. Those denominations with the name "Evangelical" in their brand will suffer from this. I don't know what the solution is except to take that word out of their corporate name.
solution; Take the word OUT of the "increasing" use among the politicos.
DeleteAs is so common today, words have taken on new meanings. For instance "liberal", " as in liberal college education, liberal arts, liberal applications.
To "give up trying to differentiate is lazy, sloppy, and dishonest.
helper "To give up...is lazy, sloppy and dishonest."
DeleteIn one sense that is true. In another sense, using words the way the public uses them is necessary for communication. Few people care about how words are used inside theology. That the word evangelical is used one way in public and in another way inside theology is not my problem. I looked at the denomination of my childhood, "Evangelical Covenant Church." They now have to deal with the word. On its Wikipedia page it refers to itself as a denomination of "radical pietism." This is to differentiate itself from some other groups that practice, "??? pietism" (can't remember is other kind). Am I supposed to use the adjective every time I use the word pietism. I recall you have used the word pietism and did not use an adjective.
You have a lot of interest in terms from inside theology. I do not share this interest.
Little Helper: It is common to turn words that describe phenomena we disagree with into pejoratives. I believe it is a natural evolution of language. The terms "liberal" and "socialist" have come to mean "everything I disagree with" on the right, while terms like "fascist" have come to mean "everything I disagree with" on the left.
DeleteAt the very core, though, the terms "liberal" and "conservative" are confusing because they have a lot of different definitions, and context is important to understand what someone is talking about. I prefer to tend towards the definitions, at least on a political level with no context, that "liberal" means a desire to change, to try new things. "Conservative" means a preference for the status quo or the way things used to be. I prefer these definitions because, from a psychological and sociological context, they are definitions that can be applied across all cultures, and they are definitions that can be used to synthesize better understanding.
I write all of this for a purpose. It does get my goat a bit when people misuse political terms, because specific phrases tend to mean specific things. Perhaps it is a long history of technical writing getting to me, but I tend to be rather strict in the way that words are used simply because ambiguity in writing is something that can cause a lot of problems.
I also use the terms "liberal" and "conservative" frequently to describe many other things, and our political discussions tend to overlap here. Liberal can also commonly be used to mean "a large amount" or "without regard to caution" whereas "conservative" can also mean "a small amount" or "with great care". These are not political definitions, but they do tend to overlap into the political arena, giving pundits ready-made pejoratives to use in their arguments.
"You have a lot of interest in terms from inside theology", ( I must add; "and outside theology, and the misuse of both.") To ignore both, is dishonest. Surely a professor of economics would acknowledge a balance sheet has both additions and subtractions to come to an honest understanding.
ReplyDelete