Quaker Way

I personally feel that two thousand years of faith, interpretation, and religious construction have elevated Jesus onto a level that he himself never sought to occupy. It was at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, according to Lloyd Geering in his Westar Institute article, 'How Did Jesus Become God and Why?' that Jesus was promoted to God. This is an excerpt from the Council declaration of the Christian Curch at the time that pronounces the postition that Jesus was of divine origin: 'We then, following the Holy fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with the Father according to the Godhead, and consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, according to the Manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of the natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted nor divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, the only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ; as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ has taught us, and the Creed of the Holy Father has handed down to us.' The Council of Nicea and the resulting Nicean Creed makes essentially the same proclamation. The concept of the Trinity is a human construction and I reject these proclamations because they are simply that: human constructions. Jesus never proclaimed himself to be the Son of God and made no absolute claim to be The Mesiah. I DO believe that Jesus was a healer, teacher, and mystic with a deep sense of conscious contact with God. I DON'T believe that his demotion to human status minimizes his teachings one bit, either. Jesus had a vision of what the Kingdom of God was like and proclaimed that Kingdom's imminent arrival. His mentor, John the Baptist, carried the same message of the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus taught what Citizens of that Kindom would act like, what the norms and values would be like, what the politics and economics would be like...all radically different from the Hebrew Laws that governed life at that time. It has to be remembered that Jesus was not a Christian...He was a Jew. And one the likes of which no one had ever known before. His message of sexual and economic equality, love and compassion, inclusion and forgiveness, all point to a way of life that would bring us closer to that Kingdom. The challenge isn't to base the validity of Jesus' teachings on Jesus being of divine origin, but to accept his teachings on their own merit and as a testament to his understanding of what is required of us to be Citizens of the Kingdom of God. I personally feel the teachings of Jesus have been minimized BECAUSE of the absolutely radical demands they make of us and it is far less a challenge to our Politics and Ecnomics of Empire if Jesus' divinity is taught instead. Once we shift the focus and begin to live as Citizens of the Kingdom of God, rejecting the politics, culture, religious props and constructions, economics of deprivation and greed, etc. etc., the Empire will begin to rust and crumble on its own. Russ

And you have one here, Ted. I came close to leaving the United Methodist Church because of the exclusionary policies maintained by the church's bishops regarding gay clergy. This apparently is too much for them, but is another indication of the difficulty people have either as individuals or as an organization in overcoming their own prejudices by putting the teachings of Jesus into practice in daily life. This is what makes Christianity a put-up-or-shut-up faith: following the teachings of Jesus. Of course, we're not perfect in any sense of the word, but we all need to try and 'practice these principles in all of our affairs', to borrow a phrase from AA. The denominational Christian churches are more of a reflection of the state of our society than charts and compasses to use in the navigation of today's complex world and the issues that are raised. We face questions that have never been posed before in history and instead of being a central moderator, the denominational Christian churches act as a conservative brake on exploration of faith, discussions concerning Jesus and the validity of early Christian writings, discussions over contradictions in the gospels, who Jesus was historically, etc. etc. They have 'Jesus is God' down pat, but fail terribly in spreading and practicing the words of Jesus the Teacher. If that were to be done, you would have all of the denominational Christian churches denouncing the war in Iraq and demanding the war money be used for feeding and housing the poor, providing medical care for the needy, etc. etc. That really doesn't square with supporters of the Politics of Empire who also want to use Christianity as an image-improver and political weapon. Can't serve God and money at the same time, folks, or claim to follow the Prince of Peace but feed and support the dogs of war, too. Can't have it both ways...put up or shut up. I personally regard the Christian faith as being a faith for all people and want to see the US flag removed from the sanctuaries myself. God and Jesus are beyond our pathetic politics of inequity, deprivation, greed, corruption, and hypocracy. At the same time, I understand that our faith is a human construction that interprets a Spiritual reality. The ceremonies, hymms, bowing, kneeling, praising, etc. are just empty, meaningless drama on the part of denominational Christian churches because they can't be open and compassionate to those who are seen as outcasts in our society. And where does Jesus say who can and can't be clergy? Again, there's the difference between the teachings of Jesus and the Christianity of human construction. You are not alone, Ted. There is an entire group of Jesus scholars, New Testament researchers, etc. who are questioning the foundational writings of the early Christian church and re-thinking the life of Jesus and his teachings apart from the gospel writings. Some churches are allowing for this debate, others will head for the hills and get out the anti-heretic weapons. My position is to let the debate begin and out in the open...in every church and in every pew. It's time for a Reformation of the Reformation. Russ

War is simply political economy in another form.