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Blog: Stretch  






Stretch



Some of the most frequently said prayers of Christians are said for the collective whole, yet on the other hand we are often quick to send the vast majority of people to hell. The older I get, the less this makes sense to me and perhaps I am not alone in this, well I know I am not alone. When praying the “Our Father” for example the prayer is in the plural, not the singular, it is not for personal needs alone, nor is the prayer just for loved ones; no it is said for all of mankind. Each person saying this beautiful prayer is a representative before God for all of humanity. We pray for the “forgiveness of our trespasses”. We also pray “our daily bread”. It is all ‘we’. If this is so, why are we so quick to consign the majority of mankind to hell? I know the scriptures can be quoted to bolster this belief, but in the end, scriptures can be found to pretty much strengthen just about anything. Racist will often use the Holy Book to back up their claims for racial superiority, and even for slavery. So I guess one can pretty much find what they are looking for, if the scriptures are reduced to a certain line up of text.

When Jesus taught the ‘Our Father’, he was not teaching it to Christian’s, no it was Jews of course, and I would imagine people of other religions, yet he taught them all. Perhaps it would be good to try to stretch our understanding of what Jesus was trying to impart by his teaching. I am not sure he wanted to just find another group, hating and condemning those outside. That is simply a very common thing for us humans to do. Perhaps that is our root sin, making others outside, worthy of death or worse. If God is love then it is a mystery that can’t ever be gotten to the bottom of, yet we make God into another human, just bigger, and at times bad-er.

Atheists do this also, why shouldn’t they, they are human after all. They go to the scriptures for a very specific reason, and they find everything they want, in order to criticize the beliefs of theist of all strips, who use the Bible as a source of spiritual insight. You can’t separate the observer, or reader, from the text, they are one and it is an intimate relationship. This is true of anything of course. I think the saying: “one man’s meat, is another man’s poison”, pretty much says it all.

If Christ came to save, why do many insist on believing that God created an economy of salvation, in which the greatest possible numbers of people are lost, merely because they had the bad luck in being born in a place where they would not hear the Gospel? Or even more common, the message made hateful by the very people who should be living it. If the majority of mankind was created merely to be damned, then perhaps we should re-look at the belief that God is love, or even just, for that matter. Perhaps one reason Christianity has not done much to better the world is because unconsciously, we really believe that most people are cosmic trash, already dammed in God’s sight, so perhaps real love simply not there? For if God hates the majority of mankind, why should we not do it? For are we not made in God’s image and likeness. Though I think it is turned around, we make God in our own image and fragmented and shattered likeness.

Hell ultimately points to mankind’s freedom, the emphasis is on freedom. Grace is grace, and I doubt that it only came into being at Christ birth. A revelation is something new to those who hear it, but that does not mean that what was revealed has not always been at work in mankind. The New Testament points to the desire of God that all be saved; for as St. Paul says, “God wills the salvation of all men”; what does that mean? So again, why would we believe that the majority are dammed? I have talked to Christians who believe that hell is filled with good people, loving people; they were just not believers the way they believed. I have a friend who believes that all the Jews murdered by Hitler are now in hell. I know Catholics who believe that all non-Catholic’s are in hell; in fact they believe that even most of their Catholic brothers and sisters are with them (non-Catholics) in eternal torment; of course they are exempt. Why is it so easy to think that God who is revealed as love would do something like that. For them hell is not a choice, it is simply a bit of bad luck, belonging to the wrong church, or again having the bad luck of being born in the wrong place, or seeking and loving God in the wrong religion. Of course there are many non-Catholics who think that I am dammed. Making me an idol worshipper who follows the Pope, who is really the anti-Christ, the whore of Babylon, bringing into the world the reign of Satan; who thinks I can somehow win my salvation by good works alone. Which is funny, since the Catholic Church has always taught the divinity of Christ, and is in fact the mother of all Christian believers. The scriptural canon was also created by the Catholic Church in the 3rd century. So it is funny that many use the very scriptures put together by the Catholic Church, to prove its existence as an evil force in the world. Such ignorance is overwhelming, mind numbing, and based on a deep ignorance of their history, which is bound closely with the Catholic Church.


The letters in the New Testament were written to deal with certain problems within the different communities of the early church, yet people insist that if it is not in the scriptures then it can’t be part of Christianity. So for many, the sacraments are thrown out and each is left to their own devices to deal with whatever the Holy Spirit is telling them. I guess each becomes infallible in ways that no pope would even begin to claim. Of course the Catholic Church brought the reformation about by its own inner corruption, and its refusal to turn back to the Gospel message. The reformation in the long run helped the church, too bad it had to wait until it was too late; the break to this day, is a scandal to those within and those without.

Perhaps it is in prayer where we can come together, for we all pray to the same Lord, we belong to one body, and truly when we pray as Christians, with Christ, we all represent mankind, in all of its need for mercy and healing. If we began to show the world the compassion of Christ and stopped using the scriptures to back up some private theology, often based on a myopic understanding of God, who becomes merely a projection of our own broken and fallen humanity (an idol), perhaps some progress could be made. Until that happens, we will be mocked not for our faith in Christ, but because of ignorance and a narrow minded stance, that is self created and not enlightened by the love and of the Holy Spirit. Conversion is a constant, both for the church as a whole and for each individual in particular.

Until we learn that Christ is truly in the least. Which for each of us that would mean I imagine someone different. Until then, we are treading water. For in not deepening our understanding of what that means, we miss the whole point of what Christ was trying to do. To lead us into loving our neighbor as ourselves, and to truly see Christ not only in others, but as truly being one with them, identifying with them. For to condemn those outsides is one of the most common human propensities we have. Believers of all strips do this as will as non-believers. Its fruit is contempt, which leads to a de-humanization of others and violence is not far away. Sin means we are free, yet also prone to take the easiest way, and that way is the opposite of what Christ taught and in fact what other people of different faiths are also taught. We have much in common with all people of good will, for the work of God’s Spirit cannot be limited to just any one religion or theology, for in God we live and move and have our being. To grow in depth of understanding does not in anyway affect doctrine, it just changes limiting perspectives.

Posted: Monday July 21, 2008, 6:00 am
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Frank H. (569) 		Monday July 21, 2008, 2:20 pm
Christians send no one to hell. But if you believe the Bible, many people will never see the Kingdom of God (Heaven. Those peoples own acts will send them where they eventually go for eternity.

Mark Dohle (4) 		Tuesday July 22, 2008, 2:09 pm
Yes, but we are not the judge, that was my point.

Thanks for the comment.

peace
mark

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