Critical Teachings of Jesus - Essay Example

? Religion and Theology 06/21/11 Table of Contents I. Introduction 2 II. The Gospel of John - Jesus' Command to Love One Another 2III. The Early Christian Church of Acts 5 IV. The Theology of Paul in Romans 8 V. The Book of Revelations and the "Second Coming" of Jesus 11 VI. Sources Cited 15 I. Introduction The modern Christian Church can be categorized into followers of Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Coptic schools as the main divisions of theological interpretation, though even within these divisions there is a wide variety of beliefs and spiritual practices with regard to the faith of individuals. To consider what it means for Jesus to be “the son of God” in Christian theology can lead to different interpretation based on the school or church which the believer belongs to or derives teachings from personally. To see Jesus as the son of God is to recognize him as the founder of one of the world’s great religions, a holy prophet with a divine mission and message. This view is also to see Jesus’ teachings as forming the basis of morality in human civilization and as a mediating agent of afterlife or heaven. To view Jesus as a direct son of God is one way to approach and understand the power and majesty of his life, teaching, and ministry on earth, as well as to place faith in the heavenly afterlife where his full glory would be manifest in ways different than it can be experienced materially. To view Jesus as son of God is to view his teachings as proceeding from a source that is equivalent with the primordial force of creation in the universe, and the being that sustains all life through loving-kindness and care. As found in Matthew 1:1-2:12; Mark 1:1-20; Luke 1:1-2:52; John 1:1-18, and other scriptural chapters, to view Jesus as the Son of God awakens the soul of the individual to the ability to return to God’s full glory and grace through the purification of the being from sin. In viewing the soul as the vehicle of eternal life, and the universal love of God as the modality of the soul, Christian teaching can point a way to attain psychological and social states of awareness that lead to personal and collective good. II. The Gospel of John - Jesus' Command to Love One Another One of the deepest questions in Christianity is why it was necessary for Jesus to suffer and die on the cross, rather than using supernatural powers to escape this death and continue teaching on earth or vanquishing evil definitively and allowing for a world free from evil. From a theological standpoint, the Gospel of John is profound in meaning and proposes a solution related to these issues. For example, if God as understood in Christianity through the human experience is omnipotent and the source of power for even the smallest activities of natural life, why is the crucifixion of Jesus required and planned in advance in a manner that is suggestive of fatalistic determination by God rather than free will? When Jesus submits his human life and will to follow a path of events that he knows will lead to his death by crucifixion, the Gospel of John identifies the devil as a cause of Judas’ behavior. From this there arises the theological question of the nature or modality of evil in the world, and whether Christianity is fundamentally a dualist religion or a unitary one. In the passage John 13:1-5, the foot-washing ceremony appears at a critical point in Jesus’ life and teaching to the disciples after the Last Supper, and this passage is rich in both practical and theological meaning. The foot-washing ceremony is almost completely foreign to modern individuals in the West, though may be still practiced ritually in some Catholic, Baptist, and other congregations. On one level it means absolute humility through service, which Jesus is not only asking of the disciples but is actually giving to them through his example. The taboo against touching the feet of another person or the association of the feet with filth and defilement is common in the Arab world of the Middle East even today. By washing the feet of the disciples with his own hands, Jesus performs an act of symbolic humility which will not be affected at all be the apparent shame of social values but rather seeks to purify completely the soul of the individual. In the Gospel of John, this act of humility is taken as the primary, first and fundamental step that must be taken to prepare the being for divine love. According to the German theologians Richter and Fridrichson, this passage represents “a polemic against all cultic cleaning rites”. (Dunn, 2009) Some theologians have associated the foot-washing ceremony with baptism, in that baptism represents the total purification of the soul from all previous sins, and thus a rebirth into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and eternal life. In the foot-washing ceremony, Jesus emphasizes the humility that must accompany the complete and total process of purification through active service to humanity. Giorgio Giurisato has investigated the historical traditions of Jewish culture during the time of Jesus and writes that “archaeological findings of the ritual baths (miqwa’ot), testifying to the Jewish practice of pursuing ritual purity through the entire body bath and moreover through the foot-washing” support the interpretation of the passage with the emphasis on purification. (Giurisato, 2010) It should be noted that the Gospel of John presents these events in a sequence or progression of understanding in the individual. First, the purification process is coupled with absolute humility through service to the needs of humanity and all life. This is combined or inseparable from a total submission to divine will and the evolution of events contrary to personal ideals of justice that are limited or tarnished with selfish, ego-driven desires and emotions. This leads to the development of transcendence, and from this the student or disciple is seen as ready or prepared for the practice of universal love (agape) as a fundamental aspect of being. This is expressed in John 13:34-35 as well as in John 15:12-17 where Jesus spoke: “12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.” (NIV: Biblegateway, 2011) The process of betrayal is fundamental in the world because of the complementary nature of good and evil. The resolution of this duality is in a higher expression or understanding of love in the universal sense, the love that transcends even the betrayal. The highest reaches of spiritual evolution lead the soul on a journey to ever greater expanses of wisdom, opportunity, and knowledge through the growing realization of universal or divine love in being. This love overcomes the duality of good and evil in ego awareness, allowing humanity to come closer to knowing God through unity of being. This requires purification, humility, and openness of mind to the original nature of the soul in the individual that is the basis of agape or divine love. III. The Early Christian Church of Acts In Acts 2:42-47 it is stated that: “42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (NIV: Biblegateway, 2011) The early church in Jerusalem, as depicted in the Acts of the Apostles, is different from the Church as broadly understood today in that it was primarily a vehicle for renunciation and asceticism that helped people live a completely spiritual life while in the world as a vehicle to an afterlife in heaven. Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D. describes the “Jewish Groups at the Time of Jesus” as including “Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Herodians, Zealots, High Priests, Scribes, Elders, Disciples of John, and Followers of Jesus.” (Just, 2001) Historically, if the student of Christianity understands how these groups lived, organized, and conducted themselves in the spiritual life, then it will be possible to recreate a more accurate historical picture of the early church and how it operates today. One aspect that distinguishes these groups and at the same time binds them is that they all appear to be historical communities that lived together and built their lives based on spiritual principles of renunciation and ordination that can be seen as most similar to the ways that monks, nuns, and schools of yoga live and operate today. Just (2001) notes that the early church “was called by various names: followers of ‘the Way’ (Acts 9:2; 18:25; 19:9, 23; etc.), ‘Christians’ (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16), ‘Nazarenes’ (Acts 24:5),” but that “they usually called each other ‘brothers and sisters’ (Mark 1:31-35; Rom 1:13; James 1:2; etc.) or ‘saints’ (Acts 9:13; Rom 1:7; Col 1:2; etc.)”. (Just, 2001) In looking at the continuum of the Gnostic churches in the time following the crucifixion, the early Church as described in Acts and the letters of Paul, and later groups such as the Desert Fathers in Egypt and the Coptic tradition, it is clear that there were in fact many varieties of religious practice within the Christian community at that time. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls from the Essene tradition and the extensive scholarly discussion that Jesus may have been trained in or influenced by the Essene teachings suggest that the early Church may have been more similar in structure, philosophy, and community organization to the Essenes than the other religious organizations of the time such as the Pharisees and Sadducees who are often criticized in the New Testament by Jesus for holding the wrong views. The variety of religious groups in the Jewish territories during the time of Jesus and the mixture of Greek philosophy with Gnostic texts recording early Christian teachings suggest that the practitioners were engaged in a sincere and ardent search for truth about the nature of life and existence, and that they were searching through various organized schools of thought for practical approaches to spiritual living. This passage from Acts 2:42-47 is taken historically to point to the communitarian aspects of early Christianity and may be similar to the religious organization of an Essene-type of community. L. Michael White, professor of Classics and director of the Religious Studies Program University of Texas at Austin, one of the leading experts on the Essenes and the Dead Sea scrolls, suggests that research cannot either prove or disprove at this point that either Jesus or John the Baptist were associated formally with Essene teachings or communities. Nevertheless, it appears of all the religious groups in the time preceding Jesus’ prophecy and ministry, that the Essenes are the closest in spirit to the teachings he propounded, and that the early Christian church in Acts may have organized in a manner similar to the Essenes themselves, or other monastic groups where the world was renounced and the people lived together in spiritual communities. In other ways, the Essenes may have been stricter in prohibiting the use of alcohol, meat, fish, and sexual activity than Jesus required of his followers in religious organization. Marvin Meyer (2005) writes: “In ‘Beyond Belief’, Pagels focuses attention on the Gospel of Thomas from the Nag Hammadi library. She identifies the differences between Judas Thomas, the twin brother of Jesus, in the Gospel of Thomas and doubting Thomas in the Gospel of John, and she contrasts the gospel of enlightenment proclaimed in the Gospel of Thomas with the gospel of belief in Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John won the day in the battle for legitimacy, Pagels admits, but the good news of enlightenment as found in the Gospel of Thomas, the Secret Book of John, and other gnostic texts remains a significant form of Christian proclamation.” (Meyer, 2005) The Gnostic Gospels of Nag Hammadi makes it clear that there were innumerable different traditions in the Christian community following the crucifixion, and that each disciple may have received and transmitted a set of unique teachings from Jesus personally. This also opens the discussion to the possibility of an esoteric and exoteric Christianity that exists in different schools at that time historically and results in different spiritual practices and organizations among followers. Typically, the early Church can be seen as more ascetic, mystic, and renunciation based than the modern Church, as well as being more communitarian. IV. The Theology of Paul in Romans Paul’s theology and ministry historically is representative of a narrow strain of early Christian theology rather than the broader, more extensive cosmologies and mystical practices of the Gnostic branches of the religion. Consequently, Paul’s theology can be taken as the heart of Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity historically, in that it represents the ideas and teachings that are accepted officially by State-sponsored Christianity, whereas the Gnostic philosophies were declared heretical. As such the teachings of Paul are constitutional in assembling the New Testament historically from what were certainty multiple versions of texts historically that recorded Jesus’ sermons and teachings to disciples from different perspectives. Paul’s experience is archetypal in that he represents what all Christians outside of the direct disciples would become - students of Christianity without the opportunity to be historically present during the time of Jesus’ life and ministry. In this manner, Paul’s theology represents the beginning of interpretation, proselytizing, and evangelizing the Christian religion from text rather than direct experience as a student of the historical teacher. Because of this, it can be necessitated and required that there be some means of validating or re-connecting with Jesus directly through prayer, the Holy Spirit, or a mediation of being directly to God in Paul’s theology that continues the realization of Jesus’ awakening in the continuum of experience in the individual. Faith can also be expected to play a greater role in Paul’s theology due to the fact that he must operate on principles and beliefs socially and psychologically as a convert to a new religion or way of life. Paul’s theology in Romans appears preoccupied with questions regarding the relationship of sin to religious law. Just as Jesus’ ministry must be considered historically as a reform of Judaism within its universal aspects, so too must Paul’s theology be seen as a conversion experience of a Jew leaving his family heritage and social value system to adopt a new, revolutionary system of living and thinking. Yet, in comparison to Gnostic theology and religious practice, Paul’s writing and philosophy seem very concerned with defining Christianity through exclusion of particular types of behavior, different belief systems, and different orthodox practices. Paul does this in a legalistic manner proceeding from interpretation of philosophy, but his emphasis is on authority and prohibiting conduct according to the rule of religious law. In many ways, Jesus’ ministry represented an opening or shattering of traditional Jewish law when he declared that its customs and prohibitions no longer needed to be followed, such as the prohibition of picking natural grain from the fields of nature on the Sabbath or the violation of other social taboos sacred to Jewish orthodoxy. It can be said that Jesus in the gospels does not want to establish a new law, but rather to show how love leads to freedom in transcending the rule-based system of law with all of its hypocrisies and loopholes. Essentially, if one attains a psychological state of being based in universal love in unity with divine will and selfless, the behavior of the individual is effortless, natural, and the truth is always present by keeping centered in the ecstasy or synergy of divine love in every moment. If one follows religious law without a centering of being in divine love as expressed through kindness and compassion in all actions, then the behavior is apt to be rigid, strict, and missing the proper interpretation in critical moments, as Jesus illustrated in numerous examples such as the stoning of Mary Magdalene. From this the question arises of whether Paul’s theology is concerned with establishing a “Christian Law” on the same basis of orthodoxy and authority as the Jewish temples and religious hierarchy, or if he is continuing in the tradition of Jesus in liberating followers from the law through the practice of universal love on an ecstatic basis. In reading Romans, it is obvious that Paul is in fact arguing for a legalistic approach and that this represents a synergy of Christian philosophy with authoritative social interpretation. If the Gnostic churches were not ruled heretical by later assemblies of political and religious authorities descended from Paul’s teachings, Christianity may have evolved into a very different form historically from what we know today. Because Paul’s theology represents not only authority in Christianity but the power of religious law combined with social organization that has the power to declare other views heretical, and eliminate them from Christian brotherhood, it should be questioned whether the legalistic approach to theology is in accordance with the principles of universal love, tolerance, and forgiveness that are unquestionably at the heart of Jesus’ teaching. Similarly, if Paul’s theology allows for the opportunity of violence to enter the Church through social and political alliances, it must also be questioned because theology was established as the justifying cause. Paul’s theological interpretations in Romans and other texts begin an emphasis on the definition of sinful behavior in relation to legalistic interpretation of “Christian Law” that can lead to many excesses in self-criticism, hatred of other people, condemning other people’s actions, and activity based in intolerance. All of these relate to authority, judgment, and the assertion of a particular moral interpretation of scripture as superior to others, both Christian and non-Christian. Because of this, there can be said to be a difference of emphasis in the theology of Paul than from the teachings of Jesus. Where Paul is concerned with the legalistic interpretation of philosophy and morality to condition behavior and establish an authoritative interpretation of right or wrong conduct, Jesus points always to the unity of love and forgiveness. This is not a small issue of theological distinction, and the difference can be seen in the relationship of the Gnostic church to Catholic and Orthodox theology historically. V. The Book of Revelations and the "Second Coming" of Jesus Revelation 20:1-10 describes the binding of the serpent and dragon for a thousand years and then the release of the devil to cause mayhem among nations amidst other symbolic eschatological struggles and dream imagery. The psychological interpretation of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Mircea Eliade has been used to evaluate the imagery in the Book of Revelation with other mythological, religious, literary, and poetic symbolism across various cultures and thousands of years of human history. This type of dream interpretation can be valuable in understanding the meaning of the passages, as it is based in the theory that the dream expresses the collective unconscious of humanity, universal truth, and historical prophecy such as in oracular dreams and mytho-poesis. As the passage above suggests, how people individually or collectively interpret the meaning of the Book of Revelation can be a crucial aspect of defining modern Christian belief systems. Historically, the Book of Revelation must be seen in the context of other apocryphal texts of early Christianity and Gnosticism, of which it is the most famous and widely known historical example. “Archetype of the Apocalypse: A Jungian Study of the Book of Revelation” by Edward F. Edinger (1999) states that, “The main characteristic of apocalyptic literature is that it describes dreams, visions, or journeys to heaven whereby the seer is shown other-worldly secrets and programs of world history that culminate in the 'End of the Age'. Typically, an apocalypse contains images of a 'Last Judgment' with the coming of a 'Messiah' or a divine king, who will impose his punishments but then reconstitute things or bring about a 'New Order.' More particularly, this literature exhibits four chief features: 1) Revelation; 2) Judgment; 3) Destruction or Punishment (as the consequence of Judgment); and then 4) Renewal in a New World.” (Edinger, 1999) A Jungian interpretation thus views the patterns in the Book of Revelation as being found over and over not only in the world’s mythological systems but also in the dreams of individuals. As this dream was recorded from one of the 12 primary disciples of Jesus it is extremely significant and loaded with imagery from the collective unconscious. From a holistic viewpoint, the degree to which John had extended his conscious understanding and moral awareness through his waking activity and experience living, walking, and taking teachings directly from Jesus Christ, his unconscious would also mirror this in extension through the archetypal dream, leading to the visionary prophecy of Revelation. The power of the dream is such is that millions of individuals throughout history can approach it and find meaning, even as they differ in literal or symbolic interpretation. How Revelation relates to the second coming of Jesus Christ is also a question of interpretation that defines the various sects of Christianity and believers individually and collectively. For example, the “second coming” of Jesus can be interpreted in two ways fundamentally: as an allegory for the individual’s own spiritual evolution on the path to gnosis, wisdom, and understanding or as an allegory for the collective planetary spiritual evolution through culture, history, and politics. There can be the descent of the Holy Spirit subjectively which can be considered inseparable or identical with Christ as Logos or universal love. In this manner, the descent of the Holy Spirit into the individual psyche represents the return or second coming of Christ psychologically through reconnection with the full purity and radiance of the soul. Interpreting the Revelation of John in this manner might suggest that the soul undergoes a process of spiritual evolution through activities on the physical plane that lead to states of consciousness in dreams that give a foretaste or glimpse of heaven, the afterlife, other realms of existence (angelic/demonic) within the continuum of the soul over long cycles of cosmic development. The time-cycles in John’s dream may relate primarily to his own spiritual evolution, even within a larger context than one physical lifespan, as in reincarnation or afterlife existences. He may have accessed a timeless or time-transcending dimension of consciousness related to the soul that allowed him to experience the transpersonal elements of his being symbolically, and these are interrelated with all beings as a prophet incarnating the World Soul. The Revelation of John can be seen either as an allegory for his own spiritual evolution and soul development across a long period of cosmological time or as a historical allegory for human civilization and planetary evolution. In the latter interpretation, the second coming of Jesus actually refers to a historical transformation where a “heaven on earth” is established and all of the goodness of God is manifest without the dualism or conflict between good and evil. The New Testament and Bible suggest that Satan or the Devil is active in the world as a cause of evil and a trickster or deceiver of human beings. Gnostic philosophy may have depicted Jesus and Satan as “twin brothers” primordially opposed and fighting perpetually for the salvation of humanity in a Yin-yang cycle of good and evil present in all human activity and decision-making since the Garden of Eden. The Revelation of John suggests that the devil was bound in his dream for a thousand years, later released, and that a final corrupt era occurs before Jesus is ultimately victorious, returning to restore heaven on earth. This eschatological event would be the equivalent of the total transformation of earth civilization, and as profound as some Christian groups portray it as lion sitting down with the lamb in a total absence of violence, hatred, and conflict between even animal species. This type of pure and complete peace and harmony according to the highest ideals of truth is often sought as an alternative to the brutal suffering of everyday life in human civilization and nature. I personally envision the second coming on a personal psychological basis related to rebirth and the Holy Spirit, but as a historical event it may also be possible, as in a quantum leap of planetary civilization to collective enlightenment and a completely new modality of being for all life on the planet. The keys to this could be coded within the Book of Revelation, but to decipher the symbolism as a historical day-planner will be practically impossible even with the best scholarship. The second coming of Christ as the Holy Spirit in individual life is a different interpretation and experience than an eschatological event such as the total transformation of planetary life into a utopian paradise, even if they both operate on the same principles. Because of this, the Book of Revelation needs to be interpreted in the context of apocalyptic and apocryphal Christian literature historically, of which it is the best example. However, in order to interpret this book and its symbols accurately from within the religious tradition, one would need to attain the same state of mind and being as John entered into when he had the vision, or a similar state of prophecy and sainthood where all wisdom was effortless and apparent to mind naturally. This possibility does exist within human experience as sainthood, enlightenment, etc. and thus must be considered, but it is effectively accessible to very few individuals and not verifiable by the cultural standards through which contemporary humans define their shared values and reality parameters on a material basis. Because society and even most Christian organizations are no longer organized to actively cultivate states of asceticism, renunciation, and mysticism as the first Christians, Gnostics, and Desert Fathers did, the Book of Revelation remains a mystery, though a Jungian approach suggests a symbolic interpretation of the text in mytho-poetic terms relating to a psychological transformation of John himself that reached universal dimensions through the collective unconscious aspects of mind and the soul. VI. Sources Cited Dunn, James D.G.. The Washing of the Disciples’ Feet in John 13 1-20. Zeitschrift fur die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der Alteren Kirche. Volume 61, Issue 3-4, Pages 247–252, 1970, published online: 24/11/2009. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. ‹http://www.reference-global.com/doi/abs/10.1515/zntw.1970.61.3-4.247›. Edinger, Edward F. & Elder, George R.. Archetype of the Apocalypse: Divine Vengeance, Terrorism, and the End of the World. Open Court Publishing, 2002. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. ‹http://books.google.com/books?id=ib9rEi_L7IYC›. Giurisato, Giorgio. John 13:10: An Archaeological Solution of a Textcritical Problem. Journal Liber Annuus, Edizioni Terra Santa, Archaeology and Religious Studies, Volume 58, Volume 58 / 2008. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. ‹http://brepols.metapress.com/content/w64574032362462h/›. Hauer, Christian E. and Young, William A. An Introduction to the Bible; A Journey into Three Worlds, 7th edition. Prentice Hall, 2007. IVP. Revelation 20 - IVP New Testament Commentaries. Biblegateway, InterVarsity Press, 2011. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. ‹http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Rev/Millennium›. Just, Felix S.J., Ph.D.. Jewish Groups at the Time of Jesus. Catholic Resources, 2001. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. ‹http://catholic-resources.org/Bible/Jewish_Groups.htm›. Meeks, Wayne A. HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Bargin, 1994. Meyer, Marvin. Excerpt from the Introduction...The Gnostic Discoveries: The Impact of the Nag Hammadi Library. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005, pp 1-11. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. ‹http://www.gnosis.org/Gnostic_Discoveries_excerpt.htm›. NIV. Acts 2:42-47 (New International Version). Biblegateway, 2011. Web. 22 June. 2011. ‹http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+2%3A42-47&version=›. NIV. John 13:1-5 - (New International Version). Biblegateway, 2011. Web. 22 June. 2011.. ‹http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13&version=NIV›. NIV. John 13:31-38 - (New International Version). Biblegateway, 2011. Web. 22 June. 2011. ‹http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+13&version=NIV›. NIV. John 15:12-17 - (New International Version). Biblegateway, 2011. Web. 22 June. 2011. ‹http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015:12-17&version=NIV›. NIV. Revelation 20 (New International Version). Biblegateway, 2011. Web. 22 June. 2011. ‹http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+20&version=NIV›. NIV. Romans 7 (New International Version). Biblegateway, 2011. Web. 22 June. 2011. ‹http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+7&version=NIV›. White, L. Michael. The Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls. PBS, 1998. Web. 22 Nov. 2011. ‹http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/portrait/essenes.html›. Read More