Kevin McCall touched upon a fascinating theme on his No Longer Reading blog today. In his post Christianity is Inexhaustible, Kevin makes the following observation:
Christianity can continue to develop. Christianity isn't a Red Queen religion, where most of the energy is spent trying to avoid defects. Christianity can always develop. We can always go deeper in our understanding of Christianity because we can always go deeper in our understanding of Christ.
I find the essence of what this paragraph communicates both incredibly appealing and somewhat daunting. On the one hand, it is very comforting and energizing to consider that Christianity is not an ossified religion, but can instead continue to develop and always develop. The affirmation of Christianity as a non-Red Queen religion provides an almost cosmic level of relief. On the other hand, the injunction that we can always go deeper in our understanding of Christ is a formidable one because it reveals that the further development of Christianity depends largely on us.
Yet, the prospect that the further development of Christianity depends largely on us, on individual Christians, should not seem daunting. On the contrary, we should welcome it and feel invigorated by it. Still, we hesitate. Our own perceived inadequacy and adjudged sinfulness holds us back and paralyzes us. We surmise that the continuing development of Christianity is simply bigger than us. We hesitate to enter into a contract that may end up being bigger than us and much larger than we could have bargained. We consider ourselves too defective for the task.
Though understandable to some degree, this reluctance reveals the deep state of our metaphysical confusion and malaise. Furthermore, our diffident unwillingness to engage exposes the root of our predicament. Put simply, we lack the confidence to fully acknowledge and live the reality of what being a Christian today should mean - more specifically, inspiring and activating our own latent divinity through the establishment and nurturing of a personal communion with Christ.
"Jesus is a person." Repeat that. Jesus is a person. This is not the same as Jesus was a person or Jesus was just a person. Nor is anything along the lines of Jesus was a person, but is now a spirit. Jesus is a person. Moreover, Jesus is a divine person.
And guess what? You also have it within you to become a divine person. This implies that what is within Jesus is also within you; and that what is within you is also within Jesus. This means you can establish a personal and concrete relationship with Jesus, and through this relationship, through this communion, you can work creatively to further God's creation, both here in mortal life and beyond in eternity.
A deeper understanding of Christ necessitates a deeper understanding of ourselves. I posit the further - and sorely needed - development of Christianity hinges almost exclusively on this deeper understanding of ourselves through the light of Christ. Through a deeper understanding of ourselves we will discover that the continuing development of Christianity will depend heavily on what Nikolai Berdyaev refers to as "an anthropological revelation." Christianity will move from being an unveiling of man in Christ to an unveiling of Christ in man. This shift will demand new and creative forms of active rather than passive Christian participation, the vast bulk of which will initially be internal in nature, something akin to Rudolf Steiner's concept of a shift in consciousness, Nikolai Berdyaev's ideas concerning the Eighth Day of Creation, and what Bruce Charlton describes as Romantic Christianity.
Far from being a daunting task, the initial internal nature of the unveiling in Christ in man will be easy to access, simple to comprehend, and uncomplicated to practice.
The only daunting task we face now is getting ourselves to the point where the task can begin. But begin it must; the further development of Christianity depends upon it.
Note: I highly recommend checking out Kevin McCall's insightful and thought-provoking posts at No Longer Reading.
Christianity can continue to develop. Christianity isn't a Red Queen religion, where most of the energy is spent trying to avoid defects. Christianity can always develop. We can always go deeper in our understanding of Christianity because we can always go deeper in our understanding of Christ.
I find the essence of what this paragraph communicates both incredibly appealing and somewhat daunting. On the one hand, it is very comforting and energizing to consider that Christianity is not an ossified religion, but can instead continue to develop and always develop. The affirmation of Christianity as a non-Red Queen religion provides an almost cosmic level of relief. On the other hand, the injunction that we can always go deeper in our understanding of Christ is a formidable one because it reveals that the further development of Christianity depends largely on us.
Yet, the prospect that the further development of Christianity depends largely on us, on individual Christians, should not seem daunting. On the contrary, we should welcome it and feel invigorated by it. Still, we hesitate. Our own perceived inadequacy and adjudged sinfulness holds us back and paralyzes us. We surmise that the continuing development of Christianity is simply bigger than us. We hesitate to enter into a contract that may end up being bigger than us and much larger than we could have bargained. We consider ourselves too defective for the task.
Though understandable to some degree, this reluctance reveals the deep state of our metaphysical confusion and malaise. Furthermore, our diffident unwillingness to engage exposes the root of our predicament. Put simply, we lack the confidence to fully acknowledge and live the reality of what being a Christian today should mean - more specifically, inspiring and activating our own latent divinity through the establishment and nurturing of a personal communion with Christ.
"Jesus is a person." Repeat that. Jesus is a person. This is not the same as Jesus was a person or Jesus was just a person. Nor is anything along the lines of Jesus was a person, but is now a spirit. Jesus is a person. Moreover, Jesus is a divine person.
And guess what? You also have it within you to become a divine person. This implies that what is within Jesus is also within you; and that what is within you is also within Jesus. This means you can establish a personal and concrete relationship with Jesus, and through this relationship, through this communion, you can work creatively to further God's creation, both here in mortal life and beyond in eternity.
A deeper understanding of Christ necessitates a deeper understanding of ourselves. I posit the further - and sorely needed - development of Christianity hinges almost exclusively on this deeper understanding of ourselves through the light of Christ. Through a deeper understanding of ourselves we will discover that the continuing development of Christianity will depend heavily on what Nikolai Berdyaev refers to as "an anthropological revelation." Christianity will move from being an unveiling of man in Christ to an unveiling of Christ in man. This shift will demand new and creative forms of active rather than passive Christian participation, the vast bulk of which will initially be internal in nature, something akin to Rudolf Steiner's concept of a shift in consciousness, Nikolai Berdyaev's ideas concerning the Eighth Day of Creation, and what Bruce Charlton describes as Romantic Christianity.
Far from being a daunting task, the initial internal nature of the unveiling in Christ in man will be easy to access, simple to comprehend, and uncomplicated to practice.
The only daunting task we face now is getting ourselves to the point where the task can begin. But begin it must; the further development of Christianity depends upon it.
Note: I highly recommend checking out Kevin McCall's insightful and thought-provoking posts at No Longer Reading.
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