Francis Berger
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The Further Development of Christianity Depends on You - Yes, You!

1/10/2021

5 Comments

 
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. 
5 Comments
bruce charlton
1/11/2021 09:24:10

This was something I recognised about 3-4 years after becoming a Christian. At first I searched among the denominations for one to whom I could commit myself, and 'obey'; then gradually realised that I should be putting *at least* as much personal effort into understanding and developing Christianity as I was doing as an active scientist.

People wrongly assume that being-a-scientist is about learning the facts; but at the cutting edge it is about discerning among many rival competing facts and theories - the key decision is often what Not to believe; while trusting and following-up those (relatively few) facts and explanation that you trust and believe to come from competent authorities.

Discernment is vital in both real science, and real Christianity - and it seems vital to recognize that such discernment ought to be a personal and conscious act, for which each takes personal responsibility.

It is a kind of death to hide one's own actual responsibility behind a facade of blind obedience to 'consensus'/ authority - after all, each such persona has by then already decided *which* consensus he will believe and obey.

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Francis Berger
1/11/2021 13:00:05

@ Bruce - Wanting to commit to a church and simply follow its traditions is, in some ways, natural and expected. I did the same when I attempted to reinsert myself into the Catholic Church about a decade ago.

I think this urge stems partly from a desire to be part of a group/community/tradition and partly from the general desire for passivity. "Yes, I want to be a Christian, but I don't want to have to work for it or think about it too much!"

As much as it may be desired, this conventional but generally passive approach no longer works (especially now when most churches are on the wrong side).

As you say, it is time for individual Christians to take responsibility for their Christianity and activate themselves as Christians. You've suggested that Christians today must be willing to meet God halfway. I fully agree with this. But this task should not be viewed as daunting. Instead it should be regarded as a glorious adventure.

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NLR link
1/11/2021 16:07:03

Good post.

"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."

I like how you drew Berdyaev, Steiner, and Romantic Christianity together in this sentence. Just as it seems that different countries or areas of the world have different destinies but which all make a contribution, all these thinkers and ideas are complementary in the task of developing consciousness and Christianity.

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Francis Berger
1/11/2021 16:55:44

@ NLR- Thanks, and I agree - different countries may have different destinies, but I believe the future of Christianity depends on a consciousness shift.

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Andrew
1/12/2021 15:22:39

Wow, this is an incredible post. You touched on the core problem of modern Christianity, it’s corruption, and the way forward in so few words.

Right now most Christian groups are struggling to preserve their tradition against “development” towards evil, but surely the living Christ and Saints can guide us towards a fuller relationship with him away from evil.

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