I just added my two cents on a book about our third US President, Thomas Jefferson, in our book blog, http://quovadistravelsbybook.blogspot.com/ . In it I share how much I enjoyed the book 'American Sphinx' by Joseph J. Ellis. What I didn't get into, but wish to here, is a very modern, or post modern, take on Christian faith that T J had.
You see, while believing that Jesus bar Joseph was an amazing man, he never believed, at least as an adult, that Jesus could have been Christ. While accepting the necessity of a Creator God he could not imagine the intimate Parent God we find in Scripture. In fact, in his post presidential years he created a book today called the Jefferson Bible which is made up of all that Mr. Jefferson thought was fact in the King James version. What he left in was several times smaller than what he removed.
Yet Thomas Jefferson called himself a patriot, an American, and a Christian all easily in the same breath. The first two titles are well deserved, but Christian? How can you be a Christian and not be a follower of the Savior, the Only Son of God? It's easy, and many 'Christians' do it every day in our generation. All you must do is ignore the words Jesus spoke when He said 'I am the way...', or simply believe that Jesus never said anything of the kind.
Many believe the Bible was written by lots of guys who made numerous mistakes. Search a little with Google and you'll soon find biblical scholars who find nothing accurate in what is said about Christ in the New Testament. Try to justify all the various stories of Jesus that exist in our current Christ centered religions and you can become even more confused.
Roman Catholics say both He and His mother Mary were born and died without sin and in complete human celibacy. Protestants say that the Bible is the ground of our faith but many of today's main line preachers teach the problems they have with the book, instead of how foundational it is. Mormons say they follow the New testament too, but focus most of their teaching on the Jesus of the Central and North American Indians, post resurrection, they find in their 150 year old 'Book of Mormon'.
And the hundreds of many 'Christian' sects, some as big as a thousand churches and some only one congregation, argue constantly over how Jesus wants you baptized or if God is punishing America with our losses of soldiers in the most recent Mideast wars. Which of these people groups are the real Christians? PLEASE STAND UP! And we all do. And we all look around the room and say, "No way!" What would Jesus do!?
He would say, "Focus". He would sit down, gather His chicks (disciples) about Him and explain over and over again how the only thing we have to do is love God and love Others. Everything else falls into place when you start getting true christian love down pat.
Jesus never tells anyone to baptize a certain way, or who slept with His mom after His dad died, or even if He ever had a crush on Mary Magdalene. What He did say, constantly, in a veritable litany of love, was, 'Love God and love others and the rest will be cake.
Perhaps it's easier to spend our lives tearing up the Bible into more acceptable pieces. Maybe we are attracted to arguing what happened to Jesus after the Resurrection more than why Jesus went to the cross. It seems we all, from before Thomas Jefferson to after breakfast tomorrow, would rather argue with others who call themselves Christians than love them toward the light of salvation that is Jesus the Christ.
Luke 6: 27-36
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one
who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away
your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from
you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you
wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
-Ken
No comments:
Post a Comment