I have always struggled with the Jesus/Trinity thing. I can cope with God and Spirit, but I have never really got into the Jesus stuff.
That does not mean that I think Jesus was not real, or the resurrection stuff. I just mean I dont know where that leaves us now. 2000 years on, people talk about having Jesus in their lives and ‘What would Jesus do?”
Thats where I get confused. Im happy with having God in my life, and I guess that I see the way I experience God through the Spirit. So where is Jesus?
I think that there will be heaps more thinking to do about this, but for now Im going with Jesus is a way that people talk about God so that they can feel like they have some understanding. Talking about Jesus talks about God in person form and we are all much more comfortable talking about it like that. We can digest it.
My question is, is this personification of God still helpful for todays society? Or are we pushing people away by using terminology like “Experience God through Jesus” or any of those type of words?
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Personally, I find belief in God
to be the most difficult Christian
belief to live with, with all the
suffering and evil in the world, as
well as the problem of evolutionary
theory for theism. I’d argue that it is God that people outside the church have a problem with, and all
the things that have been done and justified in His name, not Jesus.
Though trying to discover who
Jesus was\is is not without its difficulties, we know he was a person who existed at a certain time and place in history, and
though the Gospels record Him
as saying some pretty weird stuff
sometimes, his words and his story (again, what exactly were his words is debated)provide the basis of the Christian way of life and ethic. Jesus is also how we know(believe?) that the essence of God is Love, non-judgemental, forgiving
unconditional, graceful love for
all humanity, because God entered
into our world of evil & suffering
and experienced it the way we do, ultimately in his crucifixion, and
gave us the dream of the Kingdom of God, the Church, and his Spirit
to live by, with and through.
If you had to say “Experience God\ the Divine through…” What would
Comment by Anonymous March 25, 2007 2:07 pm @ 2:07 pmthat … be? nature, family, sport,
war, food, sex, work, political activity…? The first two are good
as well as 5,6 and 7 (listening to
debates in Parliament and on T.V I’m extremely doubtful about that last option) but I believe that for
the Christian all these things are
brought together in Christ, His Church and His Kingdom. – Luke S.
Personally, I find belief in God
to be the most difficult Christian
belief to live with, with all the
suffering and evil in the world, as
well as the problem of evolutionary
theory for theism. I’d argue that it is God that people outside the church have a problem with, and all
the things that have been done and justified in His name, not Jesus.
Though trying to discover who
Jesus was\is is not without its difficulties, we know he was a person who existed at a certain time and place in history, and
though the Gospels record Him
as saying some pretty weird stuff
sometimes, his words and his story (again, what exactly were his words is debated)provide the basis of the Christian way of life and ethic. Jesus is also how we know(believe?) that the essence of God is Love, non-judgemental, forgiving
unconditional, graceful love for
all humanity, because God entered
into our world of evil & suffering
and experienced it the way we do, ultimately in his crucifixion, and
gave us the dream of the Kingdom of God, the Church, and his Spirit
to live by, with and through.
If you had to say “Experience God\ the Divine through…” What would
Comment by Anonymous March 25, 2007 2:07 am @ 2:07 amthat … be? nature, family, sport,
war, food, sex, work, political activity…? The first two are good
as well as 5,6 and 7 (listening to
debates in Parliament and on T.V I’m extremely doubtful about that last option) but I believe that for
the Christian all these things are
brought together in Christ, His Church and His Kingdom. – Luke S.