The Evolution of the Christian Gospel

The Context

Jesus lived in a world of pain and suffering. Sunday school classes have given us the picture of a Jesus who toured in a peaceful countryside preaching and healing. However, this picture is far from the truth.

The people of Jesus' world were under foreign dominion, and they were oppressed in every possible way. They did not have freedom of religion. Their high priests were appointed by the Romans. Many patriotic people were made outlaws and were forced to live by highway robbery. We read about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices (Lk.13: 1). How cruel it was on the part of that foreign governor to slaughter the Galileans while they were doing a religious ritual in their temple! Jesus sent out the twelve with a warning that they might be arrested or killed (Mt.10: 17-30). The government authorities were always in fear of mass riots (Mt.26: 5). There were spies among the people, which is the reason why Jesus talked to the people in parables but in plain language to his disciples (Mt.13: 9-13).

In the absence of political freedom, the land’s economy deteriorated day after day. The gap between the rich and the poor was getting wider. We read in a parable of Jesus that there was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day, and at his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table (Lk.16: 19). In another parable we see a man who could not pay his dues liable to be sold into slavery along with his wife and children to clear the debt (Mt.18: 23 -34).  What a frightening situation! In another parable Jesus speaks about a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men (Lk.18: 2). From the story of Good Samaritan we assume that burglary must have been very common (Lk.10: 30). Jesus advised not to store up treasures on earth, where thieves break in and steal (Mt. 6: 19).  

Due to the political oppression and economic deterioration, the people were suffering from starvation, sickness, and mental illness. We read about a pool in Jerusalem where a great number of disabled people used to lie --the blind, the lame, the paralyzed waiting for a movement in the water  for them to jump and to be healed (John 5: 2). We also read about mentally ill people living in tombs (Mk. 5:2). How hopeless they were!

In such a miserable situation, the religion of the land had the responsibility to rise and take the leadership and lead and guide the people like a good shepherd. However, the religion had gone blind. How could it lead the blind people? Rather than assisting the people with their life, the religion imposed even more burdens upon them. The people were like sheep without a shepherd. Many shepherds approached them claiming to show them the right way. But instead of showing them the right way to green pastures and streams, they led them to deserts and wolves. Often religious leaders proved to be wolves disguised as shepherds.

In this miserable condition, one prayer rose from the depths of their hearts: God, save us! That is all they could do!

 A Diagnosis of the Problem

The civilization that gave birth to Christianity functioned within a powerful mythological framework. In a world of kingdoms and empires, the best minds of the day equated the entire cosmos into a mighty kingdom. They managed to answer the basic questions of existence within this framework. They analyzed the existential problems,  made a diagnosis of the problems, and also proposed solutions using this framework.  Here is the myth in a nutshell:

 It was believed widely that the world is an empire, and God is its emperor. The earth, a province of this empire, has been mismanaged at the time because of the irresponsibility of the governor appointed by God to manage the earth. This governor was a responsible angel to begin with. The earth was a part of the mighty Kingdom of Heaven. In those days earth was a place of love, joy, and peace. All the inhabitants of the earth lived like a family caring for one another. Poverty and sickness were unheard of. The earth was a blessed place of plenty and prosperity.  However, later when the angel turned irresponsible, a huge wall of enmity rose between heaven and earth. Also there arose among the earthlings the walls of prejudice and hatred in the names of race, color, caste, gender, and class. Thus the earth, which was once a part of Heaven, became a hell. People were hoping that someday God would replace this governor by a responsible one. The present irresponsible governor was called Satan (rebel), and the new one was called the messiah (the appointee).

Thus Jesus’ world was eagerly looking for the messiah, who was going to descend upon the earth and put an end to the terror of Satan. Some of them believed that the messiah was going to arrive directly from heaven accompanied by the angels of heaven, but some others believed that he was going to enter the earth as a human child.

According to this view there was nothing much the people could do; God had to intervene, and change the governor. But why does God take so long to act? Is there anything people can do to encourage God to act? Anxiety was mounting!

Their leaders, mainly, Pharisees, answered the questions as follows: The Kingdom of God would be established when the Jews start observing Sabbath diligently.  They supported their answer with the following reasoning: God made a covenant (agreement) with Jews, His chosen people, that God would protect them if they remain His people by obeying His commands, especially, the command to observe Sabbath.  They were under Satan's dominion because they had not been keeping Sabbath as they should.  When they all observe Sabbath diligently, God would liberate them. The Pharisees prescribed a large number of silly rules of how to observe Sabbath, such as how many feet one may walk, and how many pounds one may lift on that day.  They also classified people into righteous and sinners according to how seriously they observed these rules.  The majority of the common people, who couldn't follow the intricacy of the rules, were branded sinners by the Pharisees. 

This is the context in which John the Baptist comes to the scene. Let us say it probably happened in around AD 25. He proclaimed the good news that God was going to remove Satan, and appoint the messiah soon. He differed from the religious leaders in one major aspect. He ignored the ritualistic rules and emphasized the moral rules. He encouraged people to treat one another with respect and mercy and love. He encouraged people to come to him in River Jordan and take a ritual bath representing their decision to reject Satan and accept Messiah in their personal lives. They were asked to leave behind evil deeds and start doing good deeds.

A prophet in the line of the prophets like Hosea and Amos, who raised their voice for social justice, John asked people to be good and do good in their day-to-day life. Unlike the Pharisees, he didn't tell the people anything about observing Sabbath. He believed along with Hosea that God pleases not in sacrifices but in merciful deeds. If you have two shirts, give one to someone who doesn't have any, he told people.

In order to help the people understand his ideas better, he used the metaphor of a farmer and farm. God is like a farmer, and the world is like His farm. People are like trees and plants, and the good deeds are like fruits. God, the farmer, expects all people to be fruitful. Those people without good deeds have no place in God's farm. They will be cut down and used as firewood. The Kingdom of God as John understood consisted of only those people who do good deeds. One doesn't have to be a Jew or has to follow the rules of Sabbath to be in God's Kingdom according to John. One has to turn from evil and do good deeds.

Jesus, a younger relative of John, was excited at this. He took the ritual bath from John in River Jordan. Thus we may assume that Jesus accepted the leadership of John, and joined his movement. Before long John was arrested and beheaded. Jesus then continued the mission left behind by John. He proclaimed the same good news that God was going to remove Satan from power, and establish God’s kingdom on earth. It seems that he and his disciples continued to give the ritual bath in Jordan as John did. But soon Jesus’ movement developed independently of John’s movement as it gained further clarity.

John had asked people to do good deeds in order for them to escape from messiah’s judgment. It was believed that when Messiah comes, he would separate all people on his left and right, cast all on the left to the fire, and let the ones on the right to be in his kingdom. Thus God, for John, was primarily a king, who was an impartial judge, and we are like God’s subjects in his kingdom.  

Jesus realized that people cannot be forced to do good deeds. Unless people do good deeds willingly, they are merely pretending to do good deeds. No one can do good deeds just out of fear of punishment. Jesus presented a radically different view of God, and of how we may do good deeds willingly. Although God is the king of the world, God is our father, and we are God’s children. God loves us unconditionally giving rain and sunlight to all people irrespective of whether we do good or evil. God is the one who can exist without doing anything wrong, for he knows everything. We do errors in our daily life, for our knowledge is limited. Once we realize that God loves us unconditionally as our father, and that God alone is good, it makes a radical transformation in us. We love God in return. We begin to admit our mistakes and forgive our fellow beings who do mistakes. Our world gets transformed to a family in which we live together with love, joy and peace.

Thus instead of passively waiting indefinitely for God to establish His kingdom on earth, we have to actively create it in our lives.

Seeing himself as a prophet in the tradition of the great prophets like Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea, Jesus communicated with the people around him very effectively. He saw the fundamental problem of human existence as blindness of the inner eye —of both the common people and of the leaders. He was aware that most of the things he talked about most of the time didn’t reach the minds of most of the people. Most of them didn’t have the ability to distinguish between literal and metaphorical, and they couldn’t distinguish between what is important and what is unimportant. He lamented like Isaiah, “These people do not see even if they have eyes”.

The leaders of his time thought that the huge wall of separation between heaven and earth existed because of the heavenly king’s displeasure at the earthlings. The solution, as they saw, was for the people to make an attempt to please the heavenly king by being righteous and doing the right acts as prescribed by their religion and culture.  However, Jesus believed that the huge wall of separation between heaven and earth existed because of man’s displeasure at the heavenly king. The king of heaven had never had any enmity at earthlings. People had enmity toward the king of heaven because of their misunderstanding that the king had had enmity toward them. This enmity toward the king of heaven also resulted in their enmity toward each other.

The solution was simple. People would have to get rid of this misunderstanding about the king of heaven. They would need to understand that the king of heaven is like a father to them, and that He loves all His children unconditionally. The king of heaven loves them even if they hate Him. Once they have this understanding firm in their mind, they would begin to love the king of heaven and their fellow beings unconditionally. Thus the wall that separates the earth and heaven would fall down, and the earth would once again become a part of heaven.

The Kingdom of God

The popular view of the Kingdom of God was the imminent Jewish empire that was going to be established by a new king (messiah) specially appointed by God. This was exciting to all, but they were concerned about who would be qualified to be in the Kingdom. Most of the religious leaders popularized the view that only those who diligently followed the religious rules and rituals such as Sabbath would be in the Kingdom. Jesus, however, claimed that meaningless observance of rules and rituals wouldn’t assure entrance to the Kingdom; what is needed is a meaningful observance of the essence of the law, which he stated as Love your God and love your neighbor.  

What is law? And why is love the essence of law? God is the king of all that exists -- heaven and earth (the world). The whole world runs according to the laws of God. However, humankind is not automatically placed under God’s rule.  Being God’s children, we have the right and freedom to choose to be under God’s rule or to deny God’s rule over us. If we choose to deny God’s rule, the whole world will have to suffer its consequences. We do so out of our ignorance and immaturity. All people in the world are born as children—ignorant and immature, and we gain knowledge as we grow older and get mature. So, it is human to err. Therefore, God doesn’t see us as His enemies though we suffer the consequences of our sin. Although God has no enmity to us, some of us misunderstand God and see God as our enemy.  This is like mistaking a piece of rope to a deadly snake in dim light. We will either try to flee from God or try to befriend God. We try to make God change His enmity by acting good and extra-decent. But how can we befriend someone who is already a friend? All attempts to befriend God are absolutely futile. This is what those religious leaders of Jesus’ time were encouraging people to do. The only sensible solution is to realize the truth that God has no enmity to us, which will help us approach God, and honestly admit that we have denied God’s rule. As we become mature and know the truth, we repent instead of trying to make God repent. When we see God loves us, we will be able to love God as well us our neighbor.

This is the gist of what Jesus preached as this writer understands it. Jesus explained it in his sermons and parables. The parables of the prodigal son and the Pharisee and tax collector make this idea crystal clear.

The Righteousness of God

Those people who see God as their enemy try to please God and change His mind by following the religious rules and by doing all sorts of good deeds. But they cannot be right in God’s eyes. Their good deeds are in vain because they are done for the wrong purpose-- to make God repent. They appear righteous in their own eyes (self-righteous), but they are really not righteous in God’s eyes. But those people who approach God without any pretension, like the prodigal son or the tax-collector, will appear righteous in God’s eyes. The tax-collector does not think God has enmity to him, nor does he have any enmity to God either. God justifies him, which means that he appears righteous in God’s eyes. The Pharisee, who justifies himself, is not justified by God; he does not appear righteous in God’s eyes.

Jesus said, “Seek ye first God’s kingdom and his righteousness” (Mat. 6:33!. Those who seek God’s Kingdom will seek God’s righteousness because they are one and the same. Those who are willing to submit themselves to God’s rule would be willing to know what is right in God’s eyes. They do not seek their own kingdom nor do they seek their own righteousness. This distinction between God’s righteousness and self-righteousness was stated clearly by Paul as follows: “For being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.” Rom 10:3

Paul expands this idea in his epistles to Romans and Galatians. In order to be in God’s kingdom, one has to be righteous in God’s eyes. One can be righteous in God’s eyes by faith; not by good works or by following all the religious laws and rituals. We have to believe that God is friendly to us, and approach God, willing to submit to God’s will. We have to get reconciled with God, and become friends with God. We won’t get reconciled with God if we see God as our enemy. For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…. For therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith unto faith (Rom 1:16-17).

We also need to realize that God alone is righteous, in the sense that God never does anything wrong. God is the only one who knows everything, so God alone can remain fully righteous. Once when someone addressed Jesus, “Good Lord”, Jesus took it as an opportunity to teach the great lesson that God alone is good.  This is the sense in which the angels in Isaiah’s vision sing Holy! Holy! Holy! About God. If God alone is righteous, we admit that we humans err, due to our limited knowledge. If we admit so, we will be willing to seek forgiveness and forgive others.  

The Original Christian Movement

The truth, as represented by Jesus, clashed with blindness. The religious leadership joined forces with the political leadership and managed to shut the mouth of Jesus by crucifying him along with some political criminals. Blindness had a temporary victory, but the truth couldn’t be buried for long. Truth continues to resurrect whenever there is someone who is willing to stand for it, though the forces of blindness join forces to shut his/her mouth again.

Born and raised in his cultural milieu, Jesus made use of the mythological framework of the messiah to communicate with the people. Although many of his listeners took it literally, Jesus took it as it really was –metaphorically.  Many of them even thought that Jesus was the messiah they were looking for, and some of them encouraged Jesus to assume such a role, and save the nation from the rule of the Romans.

It seems that Jesus actualized in his person and life the mythical figure of the messiah. The messiah was, for him, a prince of peace who would establish lasting peace through non-violent means.  He would rather be killed than kill others.  He kept it a secret at the beginning lest he should be treated as a threat by Roman Empire. Later he revealed himself as the actualization of the messiah in Jerusalem, and he was immediately crucified.

We have an account of what happened after the time of Jesus in the Acts of the Apostles. After a period of fear, confusion and anxiety, the disciples and friends of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem, and they prayed together for guidance and strength. They gained unusual courage and also the abilities to speak in other languages and to heal the sick, which they claimed to be the gifts of the spirit of God. Peter took over the leadership. They told people that Jesus was really the messiah, sent by God to save them from the rule of Satan, but their leaders crucified him, and rejected the salvation offered by God. However, God raised him to life, and has appointed him as the messiah. He is sitting at the right hand side of God ruling the world. He will come back to make the final judgment. There is time until his return to join his side or to reject him. Their courage and the miracles they did served as the proofs of their claim.  

A lot of people believed them and joined their side. They travelled far and wide with the mission of proclaiming this news everywhere, so that people will have a chance to repent and join the side of the messiah. There were Jewish people living in most of the cities of the Roman empire and also in many places in the Persian empire. The synoptic gospels, written several decades after Jesus, were written primarily to prove that Jesus was none other than the messiah.

In spite of the courage and the good will of the leaders of the original Christian movement, it looks like they spread and watered a very simplistic belief as the cornerstone of Christianity. As a result, the religion that grew up in the name of Jesus didn’t have much to do with what Jesus taught. It was more like what John the Baptist taught than what Jesus taught. It looks like they failed to understand initially the sense in which Jesus thought of himself as the messiah. That is probably why they believed and proclaimed that Jesus was going to come again as king from heaven. As a result, the movement that grew up in the name of Jesus was not firmly grounded in the teachings of Jesus. Thus arose the gap between believing in the Christhood of Jesus and living a meaningful and fruitful life—the gap between faith and doing good works. This is perhaps the context in which James, the brother of Jesus, asked this rhetorical question: What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? (James 2:14) He further says: As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (2:26)

This disparity between faith and life is probably a major challenge the early Christian movement faced. Another challenge was the widespread and severe disappointment at the failure of Jesus’ return as the messiah as they all expected. A third challenge was an identity crisis as the growing community of Christians asked themselves who they were.  

Paul, a very educated Pharisee born out of Palestine, joined their movement. He travelled throughout the Roman empire with the Christian good news. He made an effort to understand what Jesus taught and explain it to his generation. He provided effective leadership to the Christian church in its challenges.  

New Israel

Slowly there emerged among them a new metaphor as a solution to these problems. Relating themselves to Israel, they called themselves the new Israel.  They claimed that the old Israel proved irresponsible to God, so God replaced it with the Christian church, the new Israel. Jesus was a new Moses, saving people from the captivity of Satan. Thus the Christian community saw itself as the New Israel, traveling to the Promised Land, and this became the official faith of the Christian church. The church believed that it was living in a world of sin and death. Under the leadership of Jesus, the new Moses, the church has claimed freedom from sin and death. However, as long as they are in the world, they are like the Israelites who were in the desert on their way to the land of Canaan. Their salvation began when they joined the church, they are being saved while traveling as a part of the church, and they will be fully saved when they reach the heavenly Canaan.

The Message of the Cross

However, Paul’s message did not stop there.  It continued to evolve further. A covenant (agreement) was made between God and Israel at Mount Sinai with the mediation of Moses. If the people obey the laws of God, they will be righteous in God’s eyes-- that was the covenant. The contract was signed in blood by sprinkling the blood of the sacrificed oxen on the altar and on the people, which implies that neither party would break the terms of the agreement even if they had to shed their own blood (Ex. 19-24). Israel originated with this historic event. Paul relates this to the origin of the Christian Church, the new Israel. A new covenant was signed between God and the people with Jesus as the mediator. Jesus was not only the mediator but also the sacrificial lamb. Thus the new covenant was signed and the new Israel was born at Jesus’ crucifixion.  If people have faith in God, they will be righteous in God’s eyes—that is the new covenant.

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." I Cor 11:25

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. Heb 9:15

The two covenants were really not contradictory although they appeared to be. The old one asked people to obey God’s laws, but the new one asked to have faith in God. Faith is a friendly trust. The tax-collector has faith, but not the Pharisee; the prodigal son has faith, but not his older brother. Faith leads someone to surrender one’s will just as the prodigal son does. Although he is a son, he surrenders himself to his father willing to be a slave. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law…… through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Rom 3:21-22. The new covenant does not negate the old one; it is merely a means to that end. As Paul says: Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Rom 3:31

With such a meaning attached to Jesus’ crucifixion, it slowly occupied the central position of the Christian message displacing the original message. For the message of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God….. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. I Cor 1:18, 23

The New Creation

Paul related Jesus to Adam, the first human being, who was unwilling to submit to the will of God. Unlike Adam, Jesus, the new Adam, did surrender himself to the will of God. Thus, as a new creation, Jesus opens up a new possibility before humanity. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Cor 5:17. The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven. I Cor 15: 47-49

The Message of the Incarnated Son of God

Paul placed his gospel within the prevalent myth of the messiah as we see in the hymn in Phil 2: 5-11

⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
 ⁶Who, being in very nature of God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 ⁷but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 ⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
 ⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
 ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

According to this hymn, the world, consisting of heaven and earth, is ruled by God from heaven. The messiah descends to the earth as a human being, and fulfills the will of God unto the point of giving up his life. Because he lowered himself so, God exalted him to the highest place in His kingdom.

According to the popular view, Messiah (Christ) was a God-sent king who would liberate Jews from the Romans, and establish a Jewish empire. The Christian church adapted this myth with significant modifications. They claimed that Jesus was the messiah. Initially many of them (including Paul) hoped that Jesus would return in the clouds to establish a kingdom, but soon it seems that most of them abandoned this claim. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written within the framework of this myth.

The myth of messiah served as a beautiful literary framework that appealed to the imagination of that generation. However, the succeeding generations mistook the colorful outer cover for the true content, and lost sight of the content.  The myth began to be understood literally, which thus became a doctrine, and it came down to us as the true faith of Christianity.

John’s gospel was written several decades after the Synoptics, probably by 80 or 90 or 100 AD. It was probably revised and edited several times before it attained the present shape. It presents the gospel of Jesus slightly differently.

Here the kingdom of God/Heaven is mentioned only a few times. It is replaced by Life/ Eternal Life. It is probably because the kingdom terminology was very much misunderstood as a political one. Eternal life is the heavenly life Adam and Eve had in Garden of Eden, represented by the tree of life as opposed to the tree of death. Jesus asked to choose the path life over the highway of destruction. It is the ideal life with perfect relationship between God and man, and among human beings. However, soon life and death began to be interpreted literally. Death became the natural death, and eternal life became endless (deathless) life.

It is repentance that gives entry to the kingdom of God in Synoptics. In John, it is a new birth that gives that entry. Repentance effects a radical change, and it is almost like a new birth.

It discusses in detail the role of the spirit of God (Holy Spirit) that would lead and guide us in our life. We also see the status of Jesus rising from being a prophet, to the messiah, to the Logos, and finally to the very throne of God. Such understanding later led to the concept of God as trinity.

Trinity and Incarnation

Although the idea of Trinity has been in existence since the beginning of Christianity, there has never been a consensus on what it really means. Its presence has led to major divisions among religions and also within Christianity. The primary bone of contention between Christianity and Islam is the idea of Trinity. Between Christianity and Judaism also it has been a major issue. The first ecumenical synod of Nicea was called to discuss Arianism, which is the question of trinity and incarnation. The council of Constantinople also discussed the issue, but failed to resolve the issue satisfactorily. The Latin western Christianity and the Greek eastern Christianity  divided on the issue of the procession of the Holy Spirit, another issue of the trinity.  Modern Christian churches like Jehovah’s witnesses and several Pentecostal churches openly deny Trinity.  

A few observations may be made as follows. As God is beyond our sense perception and rational power, nothing can be observed or stated or conceived about God. Whatever we conceive or state about God can be only a belief. A belief exists only as long as there are people to believe it. A belief does not have the support of any evidences at all. A belief may be supported if it is beneficial for our well-being and growth.  

There have been attempts to explain how the belief of Trinity can be beneficial to humanity. Some people see the Trinity as a model of a perfect community in which thee separate individuals unite as one with love. But it is doubtful if the early fathers developed the idea of trinity with such a view in mind. Moreover, such a view does not explain the need of incarnation. Some others see Trinity as a possible explanation of the relationship between God and world. Accordingly, the world as a whole is seen as the incarnation of the second person of the trinity, which was born of the father, and is guided by the spirit of God. This idea explains how we exist as a part of the world as the incarnation of God, which provides meaning to our existence.

The idea of Trinity can never be an explanation of God as He is, but only an explanation of how God is seen by us in relation to our world. If we cannot show how this idea of God can be beneficial for the growth and well-being of humanity, we should humbly admit it. We need the good will to humbly explore how this idea evolved and how we may use this idea for the well-being of the humanity.

Conclusion

I have traced the bare outline of the development of the essential Christian message within the Biblical period. It can be followed through the succeeding centuries until our own time, and it can also be expanded with more details. It is my hope that this brief attempt of mine will encourage others to further study this compelling topic.

References

1. Bultmann, R. (1951). Theology of the New Testament. NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons. P.189  

Christianity Needs a U-Turn

Christianity started about 2000 years ago as a mighty civilizing movement. In a matter of three centuries, it grew to become the official religion of the largest empire of the then world. But then, running down in history through various cultures, languages, and places, it is no more a civilizing force. This short study makes an analysis of the situation, and makes a plea for Christianity to make a U-turn so that it can become a civilizing movement once again.  

The Role of Religion

Religion may be defined as the department of our individual and social life which takes upon itself the responsibility of maintaining a healthy view of life, so that a healthy way of life can be developed and maintained. Our view of life, expressed through rituals and practices, becomes the foundation of our way of life. The view of life varies according to time, place, and people, and the diverse views keep on influencing one another.  

Although we, human beings, live our life on earth almost in the same way, breathing the same air, drinking the same water, eating similar food, and having similar houses and clothing, our view of life has been diverse. That is why we have so many different religions. Like languages, they keep changing as they flow, and they branch out into tributaries.

Like languages, there is nothing wrong in having diverse views of life, for having diverse views is always better than having only one view of life. We can cooperate with one another and have a healthy competition with one another to develop the best view of life, so that we can enjoy the best way of life. We are often tempted to believe that ours is the only true religion, and our view of life and the way of life are the only authentic ones. However, as we get mature, we realize that all people have the right to hold on to their own views of life as long as they respect others’ right to have their own views of life. Until such maturity happens, we act in a childish way claiming superiority for our own view of life. With a mature and open mind, we can learn from one another and enrich our life.

Here we are making a close look at the Semitic religions, especially Christianity, with its primary branches. We will see how the members of these religions, which form about two-third of the world’s population, may understand their religious views better, and live together in peace as friends.   

  The Hebrew View of Life

The ancient Hebrews developed a view of life, and a way of life based on it. From the time of Jesus, it branched out into Christianity and Judaism, with slight changes between them. In a few centuries, another branch developed from the same cultural background-- Islam. Together they are called Semitic religions or Abrahamic religions. Although they exist in today’s world as separate religions, dividing people into separate camps, it is possible to see that they all share the same essential view of life. We will see how the gaps that have apparently developed over time can be bridged.

Moses, who delivered them from the slavery in Egypt about a millennium and a half before Jesus, was considered to be their founder. They believed that the world was originally created good and beautiful by the good God, and that man was entrusted with the responsibility of taking care of the world. However, soon man proved irresponsible, and as a result, we have this world in its present ugly condition. This view is illustrated in the story of the Garden of Eden. They hoped that God would restore the world to its original condition one day. They made a temple to represent the world in its original condition. A temple is a place where God is honored and obeyed, and they hoped that the entire world would become a temple of God when God restores the world to its original condition.

 As they came in contact with the Persians, they were influenced by their worldview with a heaven above the earth. Heaven was seen as an ideal world-- where God rules, and God’s rules are obeyed. They hoped that one day our earth would become heaven. Thus heaven provided them with another yardstick to measure the present condition of the world, in addition to the Garden of Eden, a sample of the world in its original condition.  

At the time of Jesus, this uplifting view of life was hidden under a pile of rituals and meaningless practices. He tried to recover the original Hebrew view of life, and proclaimed the good news that the world can become like heaven or like the Garden of Eden. God, in his view, was like a loving father, and all people in the world were like the children of God. He taught that God alone knows everything, so God alone is good. With our limited knowledge, our thoughts, words, and deeds can go wrong. This awareness helps us to forgive and seek forgiveness. Thus the mere awareness that God alone is good can bring heaven on earth.

This idea was a part of the Hebrew liturgy, though its meaning was either forgotten or remained unrecognized. It seems that the Hebrew liturgy originated from the vision of Isaiah, a great prophet who lived about 700 years before Jesus. He saw angels praising God Holy, Holy, Holy! The angels admitted that God alone is holy, which clearly implies that even angels are not holy. This awareness lets them forgive each other and seek forgiveness from each other, which lets them live in peace and harmony. People began to follow this example of the angels, standing before God in the temple praising God! Later they expanded this praise adding more details. Later, Christianity adopted the trisagion (thrice Holy) in its liturgy, which is seen in the kauma, the primary prayer in the Syriac tradition.   

The three religions that grew out of the Hebrew view of life-- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, initially held the Hebrew view of life, but eventually they grew apart focusing more upon the differences than upon the commonalities that unite them.

Early Judaism

When the Hebrew civilization came to an end with the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, two separate movements sprang out from its ashes: Christianity and Rabbinical Judaism. The Rabbi called Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus, was probably the one who laid the foundation of Rabbinical Judaism. It is possible that they were also influenced by the teachings of Jesus. They saw themselves as the continuation of the Hebrew religion, except that they were without their temple worship. Synagogues became their centers of worship. They put together their Holy Scriptures, which later became the first part of the scriptures of Christians. The primary difference between them and early Christians was that they refused to see Jesus as their promised messiah. They continued their initiation ceremony of circumcision, but Christianity abandoned it. They continued their Sabbath observance, but Christianity abandoned it and met on Sundays.   

Islam

Islam grew, in the seventh century, in the Hebrew cultural background which was then represented by Jews and Christians. Mohammed showed the people a modified way of life correcting what he thought were errors in the beliefs and practices of Jews and Christians. The goal of life according to Islam was to live in submission to God.

The view of life of Islam is very similar to that of Judaism. It believes in one God, in prophets, in leading a life of submission to God, and in the final judgement. Islam does not call its God Jehovah, but Allah, as its base language is Arabic. Islam does not accept the Hebrew Bible as their scriptures, though they accept most of its contents. Both Jews and Muslims do circumcision. Saturday is the weekly holy day for the Jews, but Friday is the one for Muslims.

Islam accepts Jesus as their prophet. But they do not accept the supernatural claims of Christians regarding Jesus such as his incarnation and resurrection. Also they can’t agree with the Christian view of Trinity.  

Early Christianity

Early Christianity, born out of the life and teachings of Jesus, was a reform movement in the Hebrew way of life. He dusted it thoroughly and brought out its real essence. The rule of God on earth was the ideal for which Jesus stood. But rules cannot be forced on people; they need to accept the rules willingly. Jesus further clarified that although God is the ruler of the world, God is like a father to the human beings. As we realize that God loves us unconditionally, we will return such love to God, and also we will love one another as we love ourselves. Jesus also taught that God alone is good, the realization of which helps us to forgive and seek forgiveness with one another. This idea is repeated by Paul when he affirms that God alone is righteous. John repeats this idea when he affirms that God is light. The same idea is repeated in the liturgy in the affirmation God is holy. Thus Jesus presented heaven on earth as our ideal, and also showed a way to make this ideal a reality.

The early Christianity does not differ much from the Rabbinical Judaism or from the early Islam. They all believe in one God, and in living a life according to the will of God in peace forgiving one another. The gap increased later on as they grew separately in diverse cultural backgrounds with different languages.

Similarly each of these religious traditions further branched out as they flowed down to various cultures with separate languages. Let us see how Christianity branched out. By the fourth century, there were three major languages in Europe and western Asia-- Syriac, Greek, and Latin, and based on these languages, there were three branches of Christianity.

Syriac Christianity

Syriac was the evolution of the same language that Jesus spoke, Aramaic. So it may be argued that this tradition in the Syriac-speaking places remained faithful to the early Christianity. However, it is undeniable that this tradition was influenced by the other traditions as it evolved, and so its focus shifted considerably from that of the early Christianity. Its view of life is preserved for us in the Syriac liturgy that has come down to us.

Christ was seen as the new Adam who regained the lost Garden of Eden by overcoming the death that Adam and Eve died there. We follow the path of Christ overcoming death, staying in the Garden of Eden, and eating from the tree of life.

Greek Christianity

The Greek Christianity presented the goal of human life as theosis, which is growing up to the nature of God in order to become one with God.

Greek Christianity had the burden of relating Christianity to the current Greek Philosophical thought, and as a result they developed a way of thinking similar to the Neoplatonic view of life. The ideas of Trinity and Incarnation as presented in the Nicene Creed resulted from such philosophical thinking. Although the thought categories developed by the Greek Christianity made perfect sense for them in their cultural background, they were never easy for others. Although the Latin and Syriac branches adopted the Greek thought, supported and sanctioned by the emperors and the synods, they could never understand those categories in the same sense as the Greeks understood them.The ideas of trinity and incarnation couldn’t be sufficiently explained and brought down to the level at which they could provide a relevant and meaningful foundation to human life. 

The idea of Trinity was misunderstood in the Latin branch, as evidenced by their changing the filioque clause in the Nicene creed. Although the Cappadocian fathers and other such eminent theologians presented their understanding of Trinity eloquently, coming down to the common people, the trinity consists of three gods, denying monotheism, the foundation on which all the Semitic religions stand.    

 The idea of incarnation could neither be understood nor explained uniformly in the Christian world. If Jesus was God’s incarnation, did he cease to be human? Was he half God and half human? Was he born so or did the divinity descend on him after his birth? The emperors called meetings of bishops (synods) to decide upon these questions, but there could never be universally agreeable answers on such questions, and Christianity split.

Islam developed in the seventh century revolting against the ideas of Trinity and incarnation. Trinity as it existed among Christians appeared Polytheism to Mohammed. Also the way Christians saw Jesus as God in human form appeared blasphemy to him. Although Judaism also reacted against these ideas, the revolt of Islam has been much louder and more visible.        

Latin Christianity

Latin Christianity saw the goal of life as attaining heaven after death. The sure way to attain heaven was to join the Christian church following its rituals and practices. Thus Christianity became an other-worldly religion in the Latin branch. It focused on going to the heaven above rather than bringing heaven to earth. The church was seen as a group of saved people travelling toward the promised land, heaven. The priests, seen as the visible representatives of Christ, served as the mediators between God and people.

It seems that such thought patterns are to blame for the dark ages of Europe, during which period the entire Europe got submerged in superstitions under the dominion of the priesthood. In the name of faith, people were forced to accept all the superstitions thrust on them. All those who questioned the superstitions were branded as heretics, and were excommunicated.    

One wonders why the Latin Christianity deviated so. It seems that they couldn’t understand the metaphorical language used by Jesus or by the early Christianity. They interpreted everything more literally. Remember when Jesus’ disciples couldn’t understand his metaphorical language when he said to beware of the sour dough of the pharisees.         

  

Protestantism

Over a millennium passed before someone was enlightened enough to question such perverted thought patterns. Protestantism, which originated in the 16th century as a reform movement within the Latin branch of Christianity, was primarily a revolt against the authority of the priesthood. However, it continued the view of the Latin Christianity regarding the goal of life, which is attaining heaven after death. It remained other-worldly. It shifted the authority from the priesthood to the Bible. Also it claimed that one can attain salvation not by pleasing God with good works, but by faith in God. By faith Martin Luther meant a trust in the grace of God. Later Protestantism branched out to so many tributaries. Later many evangelical churches took faith to mean a belief that Christ died for our sins.  

The Latin branch of Christianity along with its protestant subbranch was taken all over the world by the European colonizers. As a result the name of Jesus was dishonored throughout the world. Christianity, which was once a mighty civilizing force, has become a corrupt and powerless laughingstock in the world today.   

Returning to the Original View of Life

I can’t speak for Islam or Judaism, but being a member of the Christian community, I must confess that Christianity as it exists today does not serve its original purpose. It is not only a burden to the world, but its existence adversely affects the healthy existence of the humanity. Unless Christianity is willing to make a choice to regain the original purpose for which it came to existence, it should not exist at all. The world will be better off without today’s Christianity. This may sound harsh, but this is the truth.

If Christianity does choose to regain the original purpose for which it came into existence, I want to suggest how each of its branches may do so.

The Syriac Christianity needs to discover its basic and essential view of life from  underneath whatever was dumped on it down the centuries.

The Greek Christianity has the responsibility to learn and explain to the world the meaning of Trinity and Incarnation as understood by the Greek fathers of the early centuries. If they can’t satisfactorily explain how God is one and three at the same time, they need to honestly admit their failure, saying somewhat like this: “The Greek Christian fathers of the fourth century affirmed that God is one and three at the same time. We are trying our best to understand what exactly they meant by that. However, at present we don’t have a satisfactory explanation.” The Greek Christianity also needs to explain to the world what exactly they mean in saying that Jesus is/was the incarnation of God. If they can’t give a satisfactory explanation of what the fathers meant, thy need to admit so. They need to be honest about what they know and don’t know. With such an honest approach, our gap with Islam and Judaism can be lessened.

The Latin Christianity has to make a thorough examination of its views, and return to the original views of Christianity. If they are still offering an other-worldly salvation, they need to correct it immediately because the good news of Jesus was not about going to heaven, but about bringing heaven down to the earth. If the priests are still seen as mediators between God and people, it needs to be corrected immediately because they are merely guides and facilitators.

The Protestant churches need to realize that their protest was limited to the authority of the priesthood, and they gained freedom in that aspect. Their pastors do not claim to be mediators between God and people, but they are only guides and facilitators. But the Protestant churches are sill otherworldly like the Latin Christianity; they proclaim a gospel of salvation after death in heaven. Also the Protestant churches replaced the authority of the priesthood with the authority of the Bible. Ascribing infallibility to the Bible by placing it in the seat of God can be treated as idolatry.

Further Exploration

Once Christianity has a beam in its eye, we can’t point out the speck in the eye of the Muslims or Jews or Hindus or Buddhists or even the atheists. Let us be honest about ourselves first. If there is a beam, we need to see it, admit it, and make a conscious effort to remove it. Then and only then, we can point out how others may make a correction in their views or ways.  

In fact all the religions around us have the noble ideal of bringing heaven on earth, whether we call it the kingdom of God or kingdom of Heaven or Garden of Eden or paradise or Sarvodayam or Ramarajyam or Communism. They all show us the way to make it a reality -- by gaining a realization of the truth. As Jesus claimed, it is the truth that set us free. In the Semitic view of life, we are asked to realize that God alone is good, and that God cares for us. In the Indian Vedantic view of life, we are asked to realize that we are one with God. In the Buddhist view too, it is the realization of the truth of life that makes us free.

Thus with a slight change in our attitude, with our mind open and honest, we can have a better and more united and peaceful world.  

John D. Kunnathu