"As Son of Man, he has also been given the right to pass judgement.
"Do not wonder at this, because the time is coming when all who are in the grave shall hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done right will rise to life; those who have done wrong with rise to hear their doom.
"I cannot act by myself; I judge as I am bidden, and my verdict is just; because my aim is not my own will, but the will of Him who sent me."
5 comments:
Tyson indicates that the Johannine author's favorite title for Christ is "Son of God" and that when he uses the "Son of man" title, he does not do so with the typical eschatological meaning but in a Hermetic sense. Can anyone help me with that part of it?
The more I read this particular gospel (still my favorite stylistically), the more problematic it becomes in terms of understanding the early Christians's understanding of the significance of Jesus' life.
I always thought they were kind of crazy to include this in the canon.
What should I know about this Tyson person?
If I get this, it's the sense of "I can do this as a human being."
That is, despite "Judge not, lest ye be judged," we are permitted to say how things be, and who done it (and is probably still doing it) and what to do about it, provided this is coming from Truth & Love rather than our human "We're so good and you're so bad!" attitude.
I still like Jacques Ellul's take on The Judgement, that it's about God judging the Powers & Principalities that lead us folks by the nose--and that if there's a "Doom" for wayward humans, it'll likely be something analogous to a "time served" sentence, ie "You messed up, and look what that got you!"
Joseph Tyson was a biblical scholar who wrote my old standby textbook on The New Testament and Christianity. I have lots of books but his is the one that is the old, comfortable go-to book in my library. :-) Should have mentioned that because otherwise, it is like asking people to read my mind. lol
I'm just wondering about Hermeticism really. I get that the gospel writer seemingly links Christ with the man who comes into the world knowing that he is divine and knowing his holy mission (presumably unlike us) but I don't have much knowledge or insight beyond the bare bones of this motif.
If I try to combine what you say then knowledge of Christ allows us to tap into the knowledge he brought with him about his divine connection and mission and then allows us to manifest that divinity in the world ourselves...not out of judgment but out of Love. (Maybe???)
Many years ago my visions of hell was indelibly formed when I read The Great Divorce; Lewis's suggestion there was that the only people who miss out on heaven are the ones who refuse to go. That squares with most of the words of Jesus that I respect as such.
William Blake also had important conlcusions to make about the Eternal, set forth in great detail in his works and in the blog on Larry and Ellie (my wife), two staunch Quakers.
A bit of movie dialogue that Anne really loved... The heroine says to her nogood husband, "Honey, Jesus loves you just the way you are."
She thinks about this a little, and adds, "He loves you too much to let you stay that way!"
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