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