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"Do you cherish that of God within you, that his power growing in you may rule your life? Do you seek to follow Jesus who shows us the Father and teaches us the Way?" (Christian Faith & Practice, London Yearly Meeting, 1960)
June 02, 2009
Uniqueness
Is the relationship between Jesus and God unique?
If it is, in what way is it so?
If that's not the difference, what, if anything, is?
I'm beginning to appreciate the nature of Quaker questions. I had a few thoughts less elegant:
If Jesus as messenger/Son is not unique in the universe (as we know it)...yet very special by any religious account ...would help give context to his messages/meaning as universal.
Micah 4.5: “All the nations may walk in the name of their gods;”
Understanding why some people think it is unique may help us understand the divisions among us and heal them.
So I think I understand that the relationships are individual, I still don't understand why only Jesus? 2000+ years later it makes sense that globalization is catching up to us and we need to recognize the "IT" wherever or however it is called. Many do, but many don't.
As part of scripture, I think it's valuable to understand what makes us think it is or is not unique to have Jesus, or what he represents?
Okay... Jesus is unique to our civilization, because he is up there on display at a crucial point. We didn't (It seems) quite get his message; we tried our best to divert it into an endorsement of the very things he died to oppose, but he hasn't gone away; he's still pointing us to what is lacking in this civilization's collective delusion. Other traditions...
There's a Sufi doctrine that God sends people his Teacher every so-many years, as needed; and that it's always the same Teacher. This suggests... unique and universal. Are we okay with that?
Sufi, Hindu, perhaps even the Bible all say Jesus/Christ is not unique (in the sense of his role relationship with God)
it says somewhere that only through Christ can one reach God, so I went to find out where that was said... and found citations for that view, but when I followed them I found no such absolute statement, at least attributed to Jesus. And I found a lot such as:
Christ is the manifested form, the example, the one offering wisdom and knowledge Col 2.3 [Christ] in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; and Col 2.9 “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”
Then, in John 5. 22-23 all judgment is left to the Son, and this makes sense as the manifested, or human [or the field of action, those who can act]
Even in its emphasis on atonement, I could see how Christ is the example of atonement, which I gathered from Luke 6, and 1 John 4.2-3, test the spirits through the Spirit of Truth within, meaning not worldly.
And I even traced Son of Man and Lamb of God into Revelations 5.6: The Lamb/Son of Man has seven lives, it seems. “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
I don't know if my desire for this universal view outruns my discernment and so I welcome any clarity offered. I really appreciate talking this out here. I think Fox and early Quakers have been amazing in synthesizing the messages contained in the Bible (beyond just the messenger).
As an aside, Colossians included Paul’s letters to the Laodicea, which (Rev 3) seems to be the church of the lukewarm. Maybe that is a message to me! [g]
5 comments:
On the one hand, I would say that the closeness of the relationship between Jesus and God is certainly uncommon, if not completely unique.
On the other hand, I also think that any and all relationships with God are, at their core, unique. How can it be otherwise?
Well, is it more helpful to consider the similarities, or the differences? What are these?
I'm beginning to appreciate the nature of Quaker questions. I had a few thoughts less elegant:
If Jesus as messenger/Son is not unique in the universe (as we know it)...yet very special by any religious account ...would help give context to his messages/meaning as universal.
Micah 4.5: “All the nations may walk in the name of their gods;”
Understanding why some people think it is unique may help us understand the divisions among us and heal them.
So I think I understand that the relationships are individual, I still don't understand why only Jesus? 2000+ years later it makes sense that globalization is catching up to us and we need to recognize the "IT" wherever or however it is called. Many do, but many don't.
As part of scripture, I think it's valuable to understand what makes us think it is or is not unique to have Jesus, or what he represents?
Okay... Jesus is unique to our civilization, because he is up there on display at a crucial point. We didn't (It seems) quite get his message; we tried our best to divert it into an endorsement of the very things he died to oppose, but he hasn't gone away; he's still pointing us to what is lacking in this civilization's collective delusion. Other traditions...
There's a Sufi doctrine that God sends people his Teacher every so-many years, as needed; and that it's always the same Teacher. This suggests... unique and universal. Are we okay with that?
Sufi, Hindu, perhaps even the Bible all say Jesus/Christ is not unique (in the sense of his role relationship with God)
it says somewhere that only through Christ can one reach God,
so I went to find out where that was said... and found citations for that view, but when I followed them I found no such absolute statement, at least attributed to Jesus. And I found a lot such as:
Christ is the manifested form, the example, the one offering wisdom and knowledge
Col 2.3 [Christ] in whom is hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; and Col 2.9 “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”
Then, in John 5. 22-23 all judgment is left to the Son, and this makes sense as the manifested, or human [or the field of action, those who can act]
Even in its emphasis on atonement, I could see how Christ is the example of atonement, which I gathered from Luke 6, and 1 John 4.2-3, test the spirits through the Spirit of Truth within, meaning not worldly.
And I even traced Son of Man and Lamb of God into Revelations 5.6: The Lamb/Son of Man has seven lives, it seems.
“Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
I don't know if my desire for this universal view outruns my discernment and so I welcome any clarity offered. I really appreciate talking this out here. I think Fox and early Quakers have been amazing in synthesizing the messages contained in the Bible (beyond just the messenger).
As an aside, Colossians included Paul’s letters to the Laodicea, which (Rev 3) seems to be the church of the lukewarm. Maybe that is a message to me! [g]
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