A 90 second lesson in the history of world religions.
Saturday, December 15, 2007 at 7:53AM I have frequently found that my congregants (and even my students) are oblivious to the history of the development of world religion.
There is an assumption in Christian countries, as there is an assumption in Islamic countries, that our faith has always existed and that it is the world's dominant faith perspective.
History is important for Christians - in my recently released book (see the panel on the right for Christ at the centre...) I devote almost a whole chapter to discussing why history is important for Christians and Jews. In short, our belief is that God has revealed God's self throughout all of history, but that the incarnation of Jesus at a particular point in history is very significant. It represents a 'watershed' in time, what the New Testament writers call a kairos moment (roughly summarised kairos time is 'the right time', whereas the other Greek word used for 'historical' or 'chronological' time is chronos). So, at a particular point in history God chooses to fully enter human history in the form of a baby who is born, the baby then grows to be a man, this man, Jesus, then dies the human death that is common to us all, and finally overcomes death for all of us.
This is very unlike the Hindu notion of time that is cyclical. As I discuss in my book, the Hindu incarnations (called avatara transliterated into English as 'avatars') do not enter into history in the same way as all other humans do (i.e., through the vulnerability of birth with no political status or supernatural 'edge' on the rest of us). Rather, the avatars enter reality as fully grown human persons, most often as Kings, Princes, or some form of supernatural being. Their task is to engage history, set it back on its course, and then return again in the next cycle of events when things are off track once more.
Jesus however, entered history, and both constituted God's salvific plan, and illustrated God's loving and saving will (something that we forget! I see this particularly so in Church debates where certain sectors of the Church emphasise the constitution of salvation at the exclusion of the illustrative purpose of the grace that caused Jesus to die on the cross. For example some would say "gay persons cannot be saved" forgetting that salvation is not just an act of constitution, it is also fully illustrated in God's act of grace on the cross. Jesus not only saves us through his death on the cross, he also shows how much he loves us (the 'others') by choosing to go to the cross to die for us).
SO, history is important for us!
Another, important fact about history (that deal with in a book I am just completing - due for release early in 2008) is that even though we recognise that God's most complete revelation comes to us through Jesus Christ, we must NEVER assume that we cannot learn about God from other sources! If that was the case (i.e., we could only learn from God directly through Jesus and the post incarnational scriptures) we would have to disregard the Hebrew Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament) completely. Now, if we accept that God could reveal God's self through the Old Testament, then we also need to realise that the writers of those texts learned about God from others sources that predate them (e.g., nature, culture, mystical experience, supernatural intervention, and even other faiths - for example the the names of God, which many literalist Christians are so pleased to quote, like ELohim, ELshadai etc., are derivatives of the Baal name for God - EL. The Hebrews took these concepts and adapted them for use in their faith. This was also done by the Christian missionaries to Southern Africa in the 19th century when they adapted the Sotho / Tswana names for God (Modimo) to refer to the God of Christianity (Yehova)). Of course one needs to be extremely careful of simplistic and misguided syncretism! However, Christianity is filled with examples of us adopting a word, concept, or philosophical system and adapting it to draw out of it what we have learned and discovered about God (the debates about the nature of Jesus Christ in the Constantinople / Nicea creeds are based squarely on neo-sophist philosophical concepts and language)
Here is an excerpt from my next book (which, as I mention above, should be out early in 2008) in it I discuss this notion (this book will be called The courage to find God, by the way. Please keep your an eye on this site for its release!):
A reaction among more conservative Christians to this shift in spiritual interest, particularly as it relates to the religions of the East, has been to demonise and undermine the revelatory and spiritual value that Christians can gain from the practises, and devotion, of these other faiths. Let us never assume that God was not active, both in revelation and salvation, before there was a Church, or doctrines, or even the Christian scriptures themselves. God is alive, and has always infused all life with God’s presence. I often hear people speaking about the ‘threat’ of this religion or that one. There seems to be a very unhealthy disregard for the fact that God loves all people, and that God reveals God’s self equally and graciously to all who seek. The sad assumption for many is that God is Christian, and particularly that God is a European or American Christian. This is ludicrous. God is God! Christianity is our attempt at discovering and articulating aspects of the mysterious God is who ultimately beyond simple explanations, short and concise creeds, and a single doctrine or faith.
What is required is thus a recapturing of the depth and wisdom of mystical spirituality from wherever God reveals it. This should be a spirituality that will meet the deep longing and need for people to discover and live within the truth of an almighty God who is living and active in all spheres of life. There is a need to discover that God is greater than the mere doctrines, symbols, or expressions, of any one faith. Whilst these elements of religion are not to be discarded, since they have value, they must be transcended in order to move into the mystery of the True God who cannot be contained in words and concepts.
Now, don't get me wrong. I DO believe that Jesus Christ, the Christian scriptures, and the Christian faith are normative in revelation. And, that Jesus is normative for salvation! However, I DO not think that Christ's power, love, and person, are only limited to persons who dress like me, talk like me, think like me, and go to Church like me! This is God's Universe, and I am certain that God expresses (and illustrates) God's loving will in places where Christianity has not yet reached. I do believe that the love of God is strong enough to encounter the heart of any person (even a person who has never heard of Jesus, or had a chance to read the Christian scriptures). I don't believe in a 'Christian God', no, rather I believe in GOD, the God who is Christ. And, I am a Christian, but God is bigger and more wonderful than my pithy attempts at understanding or expressing who God is...
I hope that makes a bit more sense, and makes my position clearer? I know many people become uneasy when they hear about Christianity and other religions in the same breath! Salvation comes in and through Jesus. However, Jesus is NOT restricted only to one understanding or expression of faith (e.g., a Methodist Jesus, or a Catholic Jesus, or even a mainline denomination Jesus... You get my point, I'm sure). However, please do feel free to state a different opinion, or help me to see my error where I am wrong!
My desire is not to be 'right' for the sake of 'rightness', but to faithfully and courageously serve and love the living Christ.
So, here's the history lesson (this shockwave app is reposted from my friend Sivin Kit's blog - ps. You can click on the app and go to their website to download a copy if you wish to use it in a class or sermon. Or you can download this, and other interesting shockwave maps from www.mapsofwar.com)!
Technorati tags: History of world religion in 90 seconds, Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam
Reader Comments (7)
That map is awesome - and humbling.
What I find fascinating is the presence of other religions in the Ancient Near East, and Christianity's relationship to them... Especially the mysterious order of Melchizidek: 'Priest of God most high' (Gen 14) which predates any of our doctrine etc.
Does this indicate some sort of primitive monotheism (belief in one God superior to the others) in existence in Canaan which precedes Abraham's Judaism?
So much to research - so little time. Hope you're riding your vespa around.
Wow. Excellent. Going to need several readings of this to get it soaked in and sloshed around... thanks for posting, and thanks for the cool map!
Hi Dion,
I know it was written in 2007 but I only happened across it today. You up for discussion on this?
Hi Mark,
Thanks for the comment! I am always keen to chat things through.
Please either post a comment or drop me a line.
Rich blessing,
Dion
I had a flowery comment but I thought maybe start at the end and work backwards?
I read, “Now, don't get me wrong. I DO believe that Jesus Christ, the Christian scriptures, and the Christian faith are normative in revelation. And, that Jesus is normative for salvation! However, I DO not think that Christ's power, love, and person, are only limited to persons who dress like me, talk like me, think like me, and go to Church like me! This is God's Universe, and I am certain that God expresses (and illustrates) God's loving will in places where Christianity has not yet reached. I do believe that the love of God is strong enough to encounter the heart of any person (even a person who has never heard of Jesus, or had a chance to read the Christian scriptures). I don't believe in a 'Christian God', no, rather I believe in GOD, the God who is Christ. And, I am a Christian, but God is bigger and more wonderful than my pithy attempts at understanding or expressing who God is...”
Are you a universalist or syncretist?
My ears are red and I regretted asking the question from the moment I pushed the button. Anyhow it's out there. To soften it a bit: The post comes across as being less cutting regarding the state of an unsaved soul than the Bible does; Hence the question.
Hey Mark,
Thanks so much for your comment! I always appreciate feedback and interaction.
Please don't ever be afraid to be direct with me - I appreciate honesty! So, thank you for the comment.
I don't think I am either of universalist or a syncretist.
I am clear that Jesus is the way to salvation. His life, death and resurrection make salvation possible, and our response to those gracious acts allow us to be restored to the true state of relationship (and so the true state of being) that God desires for us to have.
However, I am convinced that Christ's love and grace are expressed in a multiple of ways and places. I for example experienced Christ's love most powerfully at the birth of my two children. This is a revelation of God's life-giving grace and power, expressed in incredible love, in a forum that is outside of the teaching framework of the Church. Moreover since neither I nor my wife or children are mentioned directly in the historical narrative of the Bible I infer that truths of God's love that are directly mentioned can be married to concrete and contextual circumstances outside of the bible (i.e., I am certain that it is God who creates and sustains life. I am clear from scripture that God is the one who loves to bless us with joy, and that God gives us our children etc.)
I am certainly not a syncretist. The whole point of the post above was to show the uniqueness of the Christian faith in relation to Hinduism. Whilst revelation is possible in many forms, salvation is only possible through one person - Jesus. Where and how Jesus chooses to reveal himself is up to Him.
In systematic theology there is a classic debate in soteriology - it centres around the question of whether the death and resurrection of Jesus is illustrative of salvation, or whether it constitutes salvation (I mention this in the post above). I would contend that it is both illustrative of God's supreme love for ALL human persons and ALL of creation. At the same time is constitutes that love in the act of sacrifice and the power of overcoming death.
God must surely be able to constitute and illustrate God's saving love in regions of the earth where the Bible has not yet been translated. I say surely since it would not be reasonable to assume otherwise (i.e., God would not be loving and just if God judged persons to be damned to hell for a choice they were not able to make for or against salvation in Christ).
BUT, how and whether that is the fact is not certain. What is certain is that we have a clear strategy and instruction for how persons should encounter the love of Christ (through establishing the Kingdom of God's grace and through proclaiming the Good News of God's Kingdom). Hence mission and evangelism are essential since these are instructions, and they are the only 'certain' means of bringing persons to Christ.
So, at best I could be considered an open minded evangelical. I am radically committed to the Gospel of Christ, but I am not closed to the fact that God is bigger than my perspectives, context and understanding.
I hope that clarifies my position a little? I would love to hear more from you on the subject!
Rich blessing for the week.
Dion