Jesus in the West ~ Once More ~

~ And,

Another special delivery from HRN:

A second frequent form of the deformation of radical monotheism in Christianity occurs when Jesus Christ is made the absolute center of confidence and loyalty.

The significance of Jesus Christ for the Christian church is so great that high expressions about his centrality to faith are the rule rather than the exception in the language of preaching and of worship.

Yet it is one thing for Christians to look forward to the day when "every tongue [will] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" -- to use the words of an ancient liturgical hymn (Phil. 2.11) -- and another thing for theology as well as popular piety to substitute the Lordship of Christ for the Lordship of God.

At various times in history and in many areas of piety and theology Christianity has been transformed not only into a Christ-cult or a Jesus-cult but into a Christ- or Jesus-faith.

The person through whom Christians have received access to God, the one who so reconciled them to the source of being that they are bold to say "Our father who art in heaven," the one who in unique obedience, trust, and loyalty lived, died, and rose again as Son of God, is now invested with such absolute significance that his relation to the One beyond himself is so slurred over that he becomes the center of value and the object of loyalty.

The confidence that is expected of Christians is confidence in him; the formulation of the confidence in creed and theology becomes a set of assertions about Jesus Christ; theology is turned into Christology.

And with this turn there is also a frequent turn to ecclesiasticism insofar as the community that centers in Jesus Christ is set forth both as the object of his loyalty and of the Christian's loyalty.

To be a Christian now means not so much that through the mediation and the pioneering faith of Jesus Christ a man has become wholly human, has been called into membership in the society of universal being, and has accepted the fact that amidst the totality of existence he is not exempt from the human lot; it means rather that he has become a member of a special group, with a special god, a special destiny, and a separate existence.

-- H. R. Niebuhr

Radical Monotheism and Western Culture, p-59.

Jesus in the West

In the "Christian West" Jesus became God and God became Jesus officially at the Council of Nicea - The One God was short-circuited by a trinitarian equation that lumped together the God-Head (father, son, and holy spirit) with God-as-such:

One God = God-Head = Father, Son, Holy Spirit

Athanasius et al saw that:

Father = Son = Holy Spirit

And, since:

Jesus is the Son

Then:

Jesus the Son = the Father = the Holy Spirit = God

But when the "Christian West" made JesusGod, there followed grave consequences on all levels - By making Jesus the ULTIMATE point of reference, a plethora of issues popped-up on the scene:

Which JesusGod should one attest to? ... Our JesusGod or theirs? ... Mine or yours? ... His or hers? ... Of this Church or that? ...

What about other sacred figures in the world? - They surely don't look like our JesusGod, no? -

And so forth and so on -

In short, it was very convenient for the Emperor, Constantine, to claim Jesus as God - Not just any god, mind you, but the One God that is -

All other gods shall kneel to Him and to his devout servants: the Emperor and the Church (But of course!) -

So better watch out, ye Barbarians! - Here comes the army of the Lord to Christianize and Civilize you and help you out of your heathen ways! - (Hallelujah anyone?) ~

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When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity During the Last Days of Rome

By Richard E. Rubenstein

Book Overview:

The story of Jesus is well known, as is the story of Christian persecutions during the Roman Empire. The history of fervent debate, civil strife, and bloody riots within the Christian community as it was coming into being, however, is a side of ancient history rarely described.

Richard E. Rubenstein takes the reader to the streets of the Roman Empire during the fourth century, when a fateful debate over the divinity of Jesus Christ is being fought. Ruled by a Christian emperor, followers of Jesus no longer fear for the survival of their monotheistic faith but break into two camps regarding the direction of their worship.

Is Jesus the son of God and therefore not the same as God?

Or is Jesus precisely God on earth and therefore equal to Him?

The vicious debate is led by two charismatic priests:

Arius, an Alexandrian priest and poet, preaches that Jesus, though holy, is less than God.

And, Athanasius, a brilliant and violent bishop, sees any diminution of Jesus' godhead as the work of the devil.

Between them stands Alexander, the powerful Bishop of Alexandria, who must find a resolution that will keep the empire united and the Christian faith alive.

With thorough historical, religious, and social research, Rubenstein vividly recreates one of the most critical moments in the history of religion.

books.google.com

Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance

By H. A. Drake

Book Overview:

Historians who viewed imperial Rome in terms of a conflict between pagans and Christians have often regarded the emperor Constantine's conversion as the triumph of Christianity over paganism. But in Constantine and the Bishops, historian H. A. Drake offers a fresh and more nuanced understanding of Constantine's rule and, especially, of his relations with Christians.

Constantine, Drake suggests, was looking not only for a god in whom to believe but also a policy he could adopt. Uncovering the political motivations behind Constantine's policies, Drake shows how those policies were constructed to ensure the stability of the empire and fulfill Constantine's imperial duty in securing the favor of heaven. Despite the emperor's conversion to Christianity, Drake concludes, Rome remained a world filled with gods and with men seeking to depose rivals from power.

A book for students and scholars of ancient history and religion, Constantine and the Bishops shows how Christian belief motivated and gave shape to imperial rule.

books.google.com