A-Christian Truth
Maybe it's because I've been outside of my little Christian-school bubble for an entire month, or because I've grown disenchanted with some of my favorite parts of the Church, or because reading the Bible itself has lead me to conclude what I did in Epiphany I and II, or all of the above- whatever it was, while I was bithday present shopping for a friend of mine in the Philosophy section, a little book with a red spine caught my attention. It's titled On Bullshit; next to it, its sequel, On Truth. I pulled the two off the shelf and started reading. I didn't have a very long time, so I didn't read very thoroughly (though I ended up buying the two little books for my friend), but simply defining the concepts Bullshit and Truth, explaining how they work in our society, and developing that antithesis, triggered this simple little thing click in my brain.
I asked myself: If Christianity weren't true, would you be willing to pursue Truth regardless? Hypothetically, would you value Truth or Christianity more? And I said, the former, naturally. No matter what it comes down to in the end, I'm pursuing Truth. What is real, actual, existing, and most objectively relevant. And from where I stand, Jesus is the Truth. He says so himself. Not only that, but he prefaces practically every other sentence with "I tell you the truth" in all four Gospels. God's name is TO BE. Obviously the Bible itself is big on Truth, on existance. And Existance, Truth, Reality... they all go hand-in-hand.
A friend of mine asked me to explain what exactly I find so similar between Hinduism and Christianity a month or so back. Not in practice, but in their essence (not Christendom, but Christianity, and of course the Hindu equivalent). It lies in this: that God IS. That God is Truth is Reality is Existance. God is One, is Christ, is Father, is Spirit. We are the Church is the Bride of Christ. Bride and husband are made one, and a body (Church) is also one with its head (Christ), distinct as the two parts may be. So: we are one with Christ. Christ is one with God. We are one with God. All distinct. All unified in some way or another. This is what I see as obvious implications of the most basic, common Christian message. Correct me if something's gone wrong. But when stripped down to the bare bones, that's what both religions say. They also both include the concept of Karma, as Bono explains in this interview we read in World Religions class several months ago (it stuck with me). I'll include a piece for your enjoyment.
He goes on for awhile more, basically relating the Gospel message. He does it well, but it's not currently very relevant. Read the rest here.
Bono speaks so freely in this interview. He isn't bounded by the resticting walls of Christianity. Growing up, the word "karma" was one I associated with nothing other than non-Christian religion, with heresy, with hopeless, condemned people, with bad things (O_O). Hearing what he has to say gives a new perspective to religion: they are all built on the same ground. But Christ is the cement of the Christian foundation.
The more walls of assumption, ignorance, ritual and ungrounded tradition we can take down, the freer I believe we will be to learn truth and grow closer to Christ. Religious ties can tie us up, but without them we might be able to move more freely in our pursue of Truth. We're made to use the freedom he's given us. He broke down religious walls first, and he did so with reason.
I asked myself: If Christianity weren't true, would you be willing to pursue Truth regardless? Hypothetically, would you value Truth or Christianity more? And I said, the former, naturally. No matter what it comes down to in the end, I'm pursuing Truth. What is real, actual, existing, and most objectively relevant. And from where I stand, Jesus is the Truth. He says so himself. Not only that, but he prefaces practically every other sentence with "I tell you the truth" in all four Gospels. God's name is TO BE. Obviously the Bible itself is big on Truth, on existance. And Existance, Truth, Reality... they all go hand-in-hand.
A friend of mine asked me to explain what exactly I find so similar between Hinduism and Christianity a month or so back. Not in practice, but in their essence (not Christendom, but Christianity, and of course the Hindu equivalent). It lies in this: that God IS. That God is Truth is Reality is Existance. God is One, is Christ, is Father, is Spirit. We are the Church is the Bride of Christ. Bride and husband are made one, and a body (Church) is also one with its head (Christ), distinct as the two parts may be. So: we are one with Christ. Christ is one with God. We are one with God. All distinct. All unified in some way or another. This is what I see as obvious implications of the most basic, common Christian message. Correct me if something's gone wrong. But when stripped down to the bare bones, that's what both religions say. They also both include the concept of Karma, as Bono explains in this interview we read in World Religions class several months ago (it stuck with me). I'll include a piece for your enjoyment.
The thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma. [...] We've moved out of the realm of karma into one of grace. [...] At the center of all religions is the idea of karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics- in physical laws- every action is met by an equal or an opposite one. It's clear to me that karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff. [...] I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep shit. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity. [...] I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there's a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let's face it, you're not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That's the point. It should keep us humbled. It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.
He goes on for awhile more, basically relating the Gospel message. He does it well, but it's not currently very relevant. Read the rest here.
Bono speaks so freely in this interview. He isn't bounded by the resticting walls of Christianity. Growing up, the word "karma" was one I associated with nothing other than non-Christian religion, with heresy, with hopeless, condemned people, with bad things (O_O). Hearing what he has to say gives a new perspective to religion: they are all built on the same ground. But Christ is the cement of the Christian foundation.
The more walls of assumption, ignorance, ritual and ungrounded tradition we can take down, the freer I believe we will be to learn truth and grow closer to Christ. Religious ties can tie us up, but without them we might be able to move more freely in our pursue of Truth. We're made to use the freedom he's given us. He broke down religious walls first, and he did so with reason.
I don't think I'm seeing the same sttement you see in Bono's words. I see him stating that, implicitly, we all like perceive Karma, but that Jesus' grace undoes the entire concept of Karma. Doesn't that make Christianity unique again, in contrast with "They are all built on the same ground?"
ReplyDeleteAlso, you talk about removing religious walls, that this was Jesus' mission. How do you explain ideas like "I've come not to abolish the law, but fulfill it"?
Christianity is unique despite the fact that others notice pieces of Truth. It's the same concept Paul talks about in Romans 2 (where he says the law is written on Gentiles' hearts).
ReplyDeleteIt has been /fulfilled/, hasn't it? Completed, satisfied, tied of, the end? We live in faith, "by the Spirit" and free from the law, as discussed in Galatians 5.