"What's it all about Alfie?
Is it just for the moment we live? . . .
Alfie, I know there's something much more,
Something even non-believers can believe in."
Bert Bacharach and Hal David, "Alfie" 1966
“My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
John 18:36, circa 100 CE
Guest Post by John Coster
The annual celebration of Easter has been the single most important event for all Christians around the world for nearly 2,000 years. Good Friday marks the death of Jesus, showing him to be 100% human; and Easter marks his resurrection from the dead, showing him to be 100% God. It is the definition of a paradox. The Apostle Paul wrote that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then Christians’ faith is in vain, and they should be pitied. The whole of Christian faith, the grand hope for humanity, rests in this single sacred truth.
The recent post about Trump hawking the “God Bless the USA Bible” reminded me that hucksters have profaned the sacred for their enrichment for as long as there have been hucksters. The only record we have of Jesus getting seriously angry was when he drove out the merchants and moneychangers from the Temple because they were profiting from selling animals for people to offer as sacrifices as part of Passover. So, you don’t have to wonder what Jesus would think of this kind of profiteering.
That this “Bible” also includes the U.S. flag, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and Pledge of Allegiance, et al., making it the perfect icon for Christian nationalism, which is the false notion that Christianity was meant to be a political movement. It is the same mistake Jesus’ followers made when they thought that he came to restore the Jewish monarchy and kick out the Romans.
The story of Easter is that Jesus came not just to teach a set of principles for human flourishing. He came to restore the broken relationship between God and us, for now, and eternity. Political systems (and kingdoms) come and go, and graveyards are filled with formerly-powerful leaders who offered false hope of a better life. Many who do not have a better anchor than politics find themselves angry, anxious, and fearful these days.
I am as troubled as anyone about the current political and ecological state of the world -- one that is also filled with enormous human suffering. While I vote, donate, have been a party delegate, and even marched in some causes I believe in, my North Star of hope rests in the eternal Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus offers. It is remarkably liberating and is freely available to anyone who seeks Him.
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19 comments:
And the myth continues…
You ride on the swing in and out of the bars
Capturing moments of life in a jar
Playing with children, acting as stars
Guiding your vision to heaven and heaven is in your mind
Take extra care not to lose what you feel
The apple you're eating is simple and real
Water the flowers that grow at your heel
Guiding your vision to heaven and heaven is in your mind
Traffic, 1967
I recently returned from an extended trip to Egypt and Jordan. I visited religious sites ranging from the Nile River Valley thru the Sinai peninsula, and thru parts of Jordan.
I saw Jewish sites; temples to honor the Pharaohs and their gods; sites that the Old Testament, the Koran, and the Torah mentioned; and I visited sites claiming to be places where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph walked or lived.
One thing struck me, a very non-religious person: religion is simply a form of community that used stories to bond people together. That bonding was usually beneficial, but unfortunately not always.
There have been wars over thousands of years to place one set of beliefs and community over another.
There is no right answer, and we have seen throughout recorded western history that one's god (or gods) aren't always better than the next.
As previous civilizations have come and gone, ours will too. Some belief it will be the result of war, others believe it will be due to climate change. One thing for sure is that there will be change.
A man dies and goes to heaven and is given the tour. The angel walks him past the grand halls where the Buddhists are meditating, the Jews study the scriptures, the Muslims are praying, until finally he comes across one room and the angel says, “Now, we have to be very quiet around this next room. It’s full of Christians and they think they’re the only ones here.”
Well said John!! 🙏
Rob C
My experience that many who read this blog don’t experience, is that if you reach out to God you can experience what feels like communication. Believing does require faith and that is the rub for many. The universe or multi universe is beyond our understanding, we are just the ant living our lives, but for me their is a connection possible.
There are several interesting stories about the existence of Heaven and Hell. Rod Sterling gave a good glimpse:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nice_Place_to_Visit
My own variation when people talk about Heaven and Hell:
"How do we know we currently aren't already in Heaven? And of course the related, "How do we know we aren't in Hell?.
I stick to my original comment, that communities have stories to build those communities.
I don't believe in human sacrifice. It is barbaric.
All intellectually honest Christians should read historically accurate books written by scholars (Not Theology) about the history of Christianity and the "New Testament." Facts matter.
People are free to believe whatever they want to believe, but that doesn't make it true. Historians accept that Jesus was a real person. The mythology-theology is different.
According to the Bible, anyway, heaven and hell become concrete realities when Jesus returns for a Day of Judgment wherein everyone is permanently assigned to either one location or the other. He is the exclusive conduit.
It sure does, and like the devotion shown to Trump by his fanatic followers, there is literally no way to change their minds. Which is fine, as long as they don't try to force their beliefs on me or anybody else.
Upon death, I expect to walk up and read "HEAVEN, A GATED COMMUNITY"....
I prefer the Jesus rock/pop hit song "Spirit In the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. It was released in December 1969 in the UK and in January 1970 in US. (Wikipedia)
There are 8 billion people on earth. 2.5 billion are Christians. That’s a little less than 1/3rd. The rest are not. Of those, there are about 200 denominations of Christians in the US and a whopping 45,000 denominations around the world. Yet they all take their information from the same Bible. Why is that? It’s because the Bible was written so poorly, that it has to be interpreted. If it was written clearly and succinctly, there would only be one denomination. The editor should have been fired.
"The Apostle Paul wrote that if Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then Christians’ faith is in vain, and they should be pitied. The whole of Christian faith, the grand hope for humanity, rests in this single sacred truth."
I disagree. Regardless of what Christians profess to believe, the only hope for humanity offered by Christianity would be for those who claim to be Christ's followers to put his teachings into practice.
Mike makes a lot of sense, even though most if not all those claiming to be 'christian" will ignore or deny what he says.
Re the content of the Bible
Not sure this comment was submitted properly, so I repeat...
As I mentioned in an earlier comment, the Jewish Torah, the Christian Old Testament, and the Islamic Koran all share similar stories about God and what followers should do, and not do, so the numbers of followers around the world is much, much larger.
Perhaps someone with an understanding of the Eastern religions might comment on its teachings.
It is useful for non-religious people to better understand the different religions of the world, as well as understanding the schisms that developed over time. Also useful to learn a bit about ancient religions/belief systems to learn what has been adopted by current faiths.
Don't forget that there are atheists who follow many teachings that happen to be in the religious books I mention above.
I can assure you that I am not religious at all, but I'm not an atheist. I'm more of an Agnostic who sometimes believes we are all a part of another being having both good and bad dreams while sleeping.
The Quran is written clearly and succinctly—to fundamentalist Muslims, anyway. The Hadith as well. Still, fundamentalist Sunnis and Shiites disagree, often with murderous violence. Moderate Muslims disagree too, but at least not violently.
It’s fashionable in the West to marginalize Christianity, and often Judaism too. Let’s keep sight of the full Abrahamic family context, regardless of modern political trends and odd, concomitant ad hoc allegiances, such as “Queers For Palestine”.
Yes, the full Abrahamic family context. I think it goes something like this:
God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on"
God said, “No.” Abe said, “What?”
God said, “You can do what you want to but
The next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Abe said, “Where you want this killin’ done?”
God said, “Out on Highway 61”
It all makes perfect sense to me.
In the true spirit of Easter, I hope everyone caught the all-caps greeting from He Whose Name Shall Not Be Spoken:
"HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON, INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE THAT I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA, A NOW FAILING NATION...blah blah blah etc. etc."
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