Topics like this are why Christians cringe everytime that non-Christians try to weigh in on what "Christianity is all about." The average "progressive" believes that it is about a moral path on this side of eternity, and that is partly true, but the path that Christianity lays out in front of us is one that is chiefly concerned with correcting our relationship with the God that created us. The "golden rule" only provides part of the framework for this, and as such cannot be considered to really be that important. It is important, but nowhere near as much as the two commandments (in order of importance) that are considered the most important teachings of Christianity:
26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.
-Luke 10
What if you would have people behave evily toward you? There are no doubt people out there like that, and the golden rule really has little value to anyone who isn't already seeking moral atonement. After all, these are the only people who are likely to want to go against the grain and be consistently kind, generous, loving and just toward others. These are also not typically the sort of people who seek the sort of superficial morality and virtue that is commonplace within America today. Rather, they are much more interested in a very deep understanding of what it is to be king, generous, loving and just.
When you divorce the deity of Christ from Christianity, all that you are left with is an arrogant and insane (or quite evil and ambitious) cult leader who occasionally had a few wise things to say about treating others. Very few of the things that Jesus said that were recorded in the gospels could even be construed as general moral teachings, as most of them were directly geared at either bringing the old Hebrew scriptures back into a deeper focus or adding new teachings and prophecy directly related to them.
Spot on, Mike.
It's not a matter of what Jesus was, but Who.
Apart from pointing to the Law, Jesus claimed to be God, and with it came God's claim on a person's life, and it's a very personal claim.
Being redeemed, it's the claim of the One who has redeemed. We have been *purchased* with a wonderful and terrible price.
Ooops. Do me a favour will you please, Mike. Scrub out my surname on that previous comment?
I think that in this case, what and who amount to basically the same question. What is he? God. Who is he? God. Not much differences, eh?
Sorry to post this, but I couldn't find an email. Are you based in Virginia? We'd like to add you to the BlogNetNews.com/virginia aggregator. Feel free to email me at editor@blognetnews.com
I agree with Morris.
Christ IS Christianity.
Actually, when you think about it, Jesus was raised as a Jew and so was brought up to believe the Jewish God. He also taught predominantly to Jews and so, to avoid total seclusion, he would have had to appeal to them by keeping something of their faith in their still. Look at Galileo. In order to get his theories passed, he had to reduce them to mere hypotheticals (despite all evidence) or else no one would listen to him.
Either that, or it could be that Jesus actually believed in the God he talked about for the same reasons others (past and present) still do.
One more comment regarding the Golden Rule, I've long maintained that it's more "do unto others," rather than simply love thy neighbor. This is essentially a system of justice and balance and people that wish to do harm to others will quickly realize that harm will be done to them. Thus, by their own actions, they are already removing themselves from any kind of social environment because no one who lives up to the golden rule would tolerate such a person. The person who destroys the harmony of others will, himself, be destroyed. That's what the Golden Rule means.
Actually, if you study both the Old and New Testaments side-by-side you will see that the same God is present in both. If you read Ezekiel and Isaiah, you will see God in the Old Testament reveal a capacity for fairness and mercy that is as strong as anything in the gospels. Read Isaiah 6 and you will see an Old Testament view of God that is identical to the one Jesus preached. The problem is that Jesus actually understood the Torah and the prophets, whereas the average Jew of His day, and even today, still doesn't. He amazed them by the depth of knowledge that He showed even at a young age, a depth that most "teachers of the Law" in their old age could not approach.
And ummm... "love your neighbor" is not part of the "Golden Rule." Love God with all of your strength is the first commandment of Christianity, not "do unto others" or even "love your neighbor as yourself." That is why I deemphasized the "Golden Rule." It simply does not carry the imperative that other, more important parts of the New Testament such as the two verses from Luke 10 that I cited carry with them.
I remain dubious about your statements about the "Golden Rule" because they do not fit into the rest of the sermon. The way that Jesus said it, which is the context that it must be read in, clearly sets it up as a commandment for how we are supposed to behave regardless of how others behave. It's not about balance or harmony, but about not being hypocritical.