- One of Jesus’ own sayings acknowledges that there were other exorcists at work. Furthermore, we have stories of rabbis and charismatic teachers in Palestine.
- Jewish miracle-workers cured diseases but there is a notable lack of reports of curing any kind of lamesness or paralysis.
- The most common miracle attributed to holy men of Jesus’ time is the procuring of rain-fall. Such a miracle is never attributed to Jesus…
- Jesus is credited with three instances of a very notable miracle: that of raising the dead to life.
The assumption that the ancient world was credulous is not justified. Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, Plutarch, Philostratus and Josephus express reserve towards miracles.
- Even if one disallows some of Jesus’ miracles on the grounds of mis-recollectioon, symbolic act etc. – there remains a substantial body of material which has no close parallel in the ancient world.
- Taking the period of 200 years before to 200 years after the birth of Christ, the number of miracles recorded which are remotely comparable to those of Jesus is astonishingly small.
- Hanina Ben Dosa, when seeking a cure by prayer and Nakdimon, when seeking rain-fall, argue and barter with God, as Abraham had once done.
- The miraclous activity of Jesus conforms to no known pattern. At times He has to be persuaded to heal and the range of miracle is astonisshing.
- More miracles are attributed to Jesus than to anyone else in the ancient world,
Walking On The Water
Parallels to Jesus’ walking on the water are to be found in principle in accounts of levitation. Examples of this are to be found in instances recorded of the lives of some Catholic saints and Eastern holy-men It is perhaps the most commonly mentioned miracle in yogic and Tibetan Buddhist literature.
Stories of levitation are well accredited in both history and the present-day.
Jesus’ walking on the water may be a more advanced degree of levitation.
Water Into Wine
From the 1930s onwards Dr. J.Rhine in America conducted experiments to demonstrate that the mind can influence matter. The movement of dice ejected by a mechanism down a shute were apparently effected by acts of willing on the part of observers.
Even more startling were experiments involving a jar of tap water. Experimenters concentrated on the water and willed it to change its nature. In some cases the composition of the water changed.
In the Soviet Union before the fall of Communism an experiment took place in laboratory conditions in which the candidate tried by will-power to separate the yolk from the white of an egg. It worked.
Almost as amazing as the experiment is the fact that the experiment was reported: in a dialectical materialist society such experiments were not supposed to succeed.
Recently (2008) an artificial arm has been removed from the body and has been controlled by will-power by the owner.
All of these show that in principle the mind controls matter. This is what underlies but to a very much greater extent the turning of water into wine,
Footnote: A report on 1/10/08 shows that religious belief can help to relieve pain.
Researchers at Oxford University carried out brain scans on Roman Catholic and atheist/agnostic volunteers. The volunteers were shown paintings of the Virgin Mary and Leonardo’s Lady with an Ermine. After looking at each painting for 30 seconds the volunteers were zapped with electrical pulses for 12 seconds. Each time they were asked to rank how painful the schocks were on a scale of 0 to 100
The researchers describe how Roman Catholics and non-believers reported similar levels of pain after viewing the Leonardo painting but the two groups responded very differently to the Virgin Mary painting, with Catholics experiencing 12% less pain.
Preliminary studies on lapsed Catholics suggest images of the Virgin Mary lessen their sense of pain too. the researchers said.
Salvation
- Through Christ’s life, death and resurrection the mystery of God’s love is revealed. We are saved; all this is pure, unmerited gift,
- We can be assured of salvation but this ought not to lead us to be presumptuous. The word of Christ and His acraments give us this assurance.
- The word “saved” in the Synoptic gospels means a “healing” by Jesus, often through faith on the part of an individual or another.
- Justification and sanctification are two aspects of the same divine act. By pronouncing us righteous God also makes us righteous.
- Baptism is the unrepeatable sacrament of justification and incorporation into Christ.
- While we are not saved because of good works we are created in Christ for good works (For a different emphasis see Mt.25 – the sheep and the goats).
- In Lutheranism a paradox is sometimes stated as “We are at once just and sinners”.
- Salvation is in Jesus alone. It is a process rather than a single act. Faith is identical with the love of truth which saves. Through hope we are saved. Faith without works cannot save. Salvation is attained by those who persevere to the end.
- It cannot be forgotten that Jesus said that the outcasts of society (the tax-gatherers and prostitutes in His day) go into the Kingdom before the religious establisshmeent of His day.
The Church
Jesus never wrote a book; He founded a Church
The early Church was led by the apostles, with Peter at the helm. Soon we have the emergence of deacons and presbyters(local officers) Bishops also exist in the New Testament. In Corinth we have apostles, prophets, teachers,miracle-workers, healers, helpers, administrators
In the earliest years of the Church after the N.T. period the usual pattern was bishops and deacons plus travelling missionaries – apostles and prophets. Eventually, these latter officers disappear and bishop, presbyer and deeacon becomes the norm. It is not until the 4th century that an individual believer is called a priest.
A special place in the early Church is reserved for the Bishop of Rome, taken to be the successor of Peter. The following Fathers of the Church ascribe a primacy to Rome and to Rome disputes and clear teaching are ascribed. Thus St. Clement of Rome, St Ignatius, St Irenaeus, St. Polycarp, Bishop Polycrates of Ephesus,Tertullian, St. Cyprian of Carthage, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine…
From these we have such statements as: “an overseer of love” “If one wishes to know the true faith, then it suffices to ascertain the teaching of this one Church” “If Italy is in thy neighbourhood then thou hast Rome, from whence for us (in Africa) the teaching authority already exists”"The Roman Church is the mother and the root of the Catholic Church..”.
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Beginniing in the early 4th century we have the conciliar movement. Major disputes over doctrine (e.g. the divinity of Christ), after a long period of discussion were settled not by Rome,although Rome’s influence was impressive but by General Councils.
In 1054 the Greek Speaking Church of the Eastern Empire and the Latin Speaking Church of the West split. There had been considerable strain between the two for many years prior to 1054. Thus we have the Orthodox and Catholic denominations.
An important feature in the dispute – and it remains until to-day – is the standing of the Pope. The Orthodox believe that a special place belongs to the Pope. They ascribe to him a primacy of honour, together with the right (under certain circumstances) to hear appeals from all parts of Christendom. They see Rome’s mistake as being to turn the primacy of love into a supremacy of external power and jurisdiction. (Sadly this mistake is prevalent to-day)
With regard to the New Testament the content was only finally agreed upon at the end of the 4th century and even then there was some uncertainty in the East over the inclusion of Hebrews and Revelation.
Prior to that there was a variety of books which were used in worship, alongside books which were eventually placed within the Canon of Scripture. Thus we have such books as The Gospel of the Hebrews, The Gospel of Philip, The Gospel of Peter, The Book of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Bartholomew,The Acts of John and many, many more.
Prior to the use of these apocryphal books and the authentic books ,the early Church relied on oral transmission of the Gospel.
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons (130-202 AD), preferred oral transmission to the written word. He writes: “The distant barbarians on the Rhine cannot read, yet without the external aid of a scripture they are established in a right path, for the Holy Spirit Himself writes the true confession ‘without ink and paper’ on their heart. Consequently, the preaching of the Church has no need, provided it proclaims Christ as He really was and is, to refer constantly to the books in which the apostolic message is recorded”.
What is to be said about Christian re-union? With 38,000 churches and sects across the world it is no easy task. Furthermore, attempts to date have produced only very meagre fruit.
All Christians accept the N.T. as agreed at the end of the 4th century. Most have sacraments such as Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. There is a general consensus about right and wrong (the Ten Commandments +). Most agree on the Social Gospel, although American Fundamentalism is out of line. Most can agree with the definitions of the Faith in the first millennium.
To be true to the apostolic period and the period of the first four centuries of the Faith, it would seem that any re-union should take in:
A ministry of bishops, presbyters and deacons plus the ministries set out by St Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians.
The Bishop of Rome to have a world-wide ministry, a “presidency of love”. Jurisdiction to be dropped from the vocabulary.
Academic freedom to be guaranteed. Controversial findings of scholars to be discussed openly, not suppressed.
The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit has been the most neglected member of the Trinity in much of the history of Christendom. What is the role of the Spirit?
- Conceives Jesus,given in Baptism, expels demons, speaks in us when called to witness, Pentecost, Gifts of the Spirit, Wisdom, Faith, Encouragement, Joy, pervades the Church, heals,dwells in individual believer, a foretaste of heaven, love, teaches, principle of prayer, agent of holiness, speaking forth (=prophecy), remains forever,inspires Jesus to speak, reveals mysteries of God, is given in answer to prayer,seat of consciousness and psychic functions, proceeds from Jesus and the Father, witnesses.
Jesus And His Enemies
The gospels record enmity between Jesus’ opponents and himself. The Sadducees (who provided the priests in the Temple) were mainly instrumental in having him crucified. The Scribes were religious lawyers. The Pharisees were far and away his main opponents,
The Talmud, a Jewish compilation of rabbinic traditions and way of life, which is Pharisaic in origin, contains some remarks hostile to the Pharisees which find the same faults in them as appear in the NT.
It would seem that the Pharisees’ hostility to Jesus arose from the threat they thought Jesus held for their position as religious leaders.
In the gospels the Pharisees watch Jesus closely to find fault with him. They try to trap him. They propose trick questions. They are scandalised by Jesus’ conduct : mixing with publicans aand sinners; his laxnesss in Sabbath observance; his healing on the Sabbath, although this was not agaiinst mainstream Judaism, his neglect of ritual ablutions.
Furthermore,they object to Jesus’ claim to be able to forgive sins. They object when Jesus is triumphantly welcomed by his disciples.
When they ask for a sign, Jesus calls them an adulterous and wicked generation. He condemns their exclusiveness as harsh and their rigour in the law as intolerable. They are blind with self-inflicted blindness. A recurring word in the invective discourses is “hypocrites”. They are “whited sepulchres”, concerned with looking devout while malicious at heart. They are “a brood of vipers”.
There are several ways of looking at Jesus’ hard words.
The words were actually uttered by Jesus and they are deserved
They reflect a basic problem with the Pharisees but they were embellished by the early Church which found itself in conflict with the Pharisees.
They reflect oriental exaggeration. Jesus was not Anglo-Saxon!
The words were uttered by Jesus but they were over-emphasised by the oral tradition underlying the gospels as part of the invective against the Pharisees.
If Jesus had spoken in this way of the Nazis, no-one would have objected to the language used; indeed, he would have been warmly applauded.
In Jesus’ eyes the Pharisees were blocking the way to salvation for the men and women of his time and, therefore, colourful, memorable imagery is needed.
There were seven types of Pharisee and in rabbinic tradition only one of them, the Pharisee who is devoted to the love of God, receives unqualified commendation. It is likely, therefore, that Jesus did not attack all Pharisees.
The frequent use of the word “hypocrite” might literally refer to those who were appearing to be true Pharisees but, in fact, were only play-acting. The genuine Pharisee and Scribe were not play-actors, whatever else they might be.
Jesus’ hard sayings, as in Matthew 23, are a lamentation rather than unmitigated denunciation.
It should never be overlooked that Jesus died for his enemies as well as his supporters. From the cross he utters the words: “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do”.
(With acknowledgements to Professor J.McKenzie)
Heaven
Throughout history Humankind has believed that there is a life after death. It is a universal belief.
Of the five main religions to-day three (Judaism, Islam and Christianity) believe in a personal after-life; two (Hinduism and Buddhism) believe in re-incarnation and the achievment of nirvana and absorption into the infinite.
In the New Testament Jesus after His ascension dwells in heaven
The heavens which in the O.T. are unattainable by humanity (with the exception of Elijah) become in the NT the place of dwelling and reward for the Christian.
The Christian is a citizen of heaven. He looks forward to a home which God will build for him in heaven.
The Christian’s inheritance, reward and treasure are all in heaven.
The Father and the Son prepare mansions in heaven for the disciples.
The names of the disciples are written in the records of heaven.
Those who rise with Christ are with Him taken into heaven.
The risen, like Christ, are endowed with the qualities of the heavenly body.
There has been a long-standing tradition in Christendom that at the Second Coming there will be a general resurrection. The earthly body will be transformed: there will be a new heaven and a new earth. On this basis heaven as understood and experienced at the moment will not be the final resting-place of Humanity: it is an interim state.
Others interpret the N.T. evidence differently. The parts which deal with the general resurrection are taken to be vivid apocalyptic language and the whole point of apocalyptic literature is that it is not meant to be taken literally.
Purgatory is seen by Catholics and Orthodox as a state in which the souls of the departed are prepared before being admitted to heaven. Prayers may be said for them. This practice stems from the closing chapters of 2 Maccabees.
In traditional Christian thought Hell is the eternal abode of the damned. Much contemporary Christian thought rejects the idea of vindictive punishment as incompatible with belief in a loving God. The imagery about Hell in the N.T. and in Jewish thought at the time of Jesus is regarded by contemporary Christian writers as just that. The emphasis has moved on to Hell as separation from God.
It is possible that the damned, rather than being conscious of their experience of unending hell-fire, are snuffed out.
There is a growing opinion that at the end of time all will be saved; otherwise God’s plan for Humanity will be thwarted.
Judaism and Islam share with Christianity a belief in hell,
Spiritualism claims to be able to communicate with the departed. Such objective investigations as have taken place have not come up with a convincing verdict. It should be added that the main sweep of world-religions is opposed to Spiritualism.
It is likely that what Spiritualists believe to be a departed spirit talking through a medium is an illustration of telepathy or a tapping into Jung’s collective unconscious
Jesus And The Dead Sea Scrolls
Ever since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Spring of 1947 critics have used them to discredit Christianity.
A general idea has entered the public sub-conscious that, somehow or other, the case for Christianity has been damaged by the Scrolls.
There are radical differences between Jesus and the Dead Sea Teacher of Righteousness.
There never came a time when it was held that the Messiah had come, whereas the Church proclaimed from its inception that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus.
The Teacher of Righteousnes looked for the apearance of three figures at the time of the end – a prophet, a priest and a king. The N.T. writers see these three roles coinciding in Jesus.
The N.T. depicts Jesus as the Son of God. No such title is given to any figure in the Dea Sea community.
There are verses in the N.T, that predicate the title “theos” (god) of Jesus. There is nothing remotely similar in the Scrolls.
It is possible that there are similarities between the teachings of Jesus and the Scrolls. This is not surprising when one allows that both Jesus and Scrolls come from Judaism.
The Teacher of the Scrolls did not claim or possess the authority of Jesus
He was not conscious of being above the Law.
He worked no miracles.
He was not a master of parable or aphorism.
The Scrolls consign publicans and sinners to eternal perdition whereas Jesus mingled with them.
Even in the persecutions to which the Teacher and Jesus were subjected there are noteworthy differences. The enemies of the Teacher were anonymous, their identity veiled under the titles “Wicked Priest”, “Prophet of Lying” etc.. They were men of violence, impure, lovers of riches – in a word, violators of the Law. Jesus’ enemies, on the other hand, are prominent and known: the Sadducees, the Pharisees and Scribes.
Departed Souls
In the Catholic and Orthodox Churches the faithful are encouraged to ask their departed relatives and friends to join their prayers to those being offered on earth. It is a two-way process.
In the Catholic Church, although this is not widely advertised, it is permissible for those in this life to talk to the departed, although the departed cannot reply. The Church is strongly against anything smacking of Spiritualism.
Jesus – A Mythical Hero?
Certainly one can find ample evidence in the NT to support the idea of Jesus as an idealised hero figure.
Jesus performs healing miracles; He performs nature miracles; He even raises the dead.
In the many disputes with His opponents within Judaism, He never loses.
His teaching and bearing are seen to soar above what His contemporaries and even the Prophets and Moses had to offer.
He refuses to crack at His trial or on the cross. He makes provision from the cross for His mother, gives hope and comfort to the penitent thief and forgives His enemies.
Death cannot contain Him: He appears to His followers after His death.
The foregoing may be said to have the flavour of the mythical heroes of the ancient world and one might conclude that the figure of Jesus has been idealised like them. And yet, and yet…
On one occasion, when on home ground, Jesus did not perform many “mighty works…because of their unbelief”; indeed, the account in Mark may be translated “….He could do no mighty work there…..”
Jesus weeps, e.g., at the death of His friend, Lazarus.
He perspires heavily in Gethsemane and tries to avoid the anguish of what lies before Him. War heroes did not behave like this.
We read Jesus saying from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – hardly the words creative reporters would have written the for an idealised figure.
In Mk 10:18, Jesus is reported to have said, “There is none good but God”. Not quite what inventors would have put into the mouth of the supposed Saviour.
Most puzzling of all, Jesus, who is projected as the Messiah in the gospels and elsewhere in the NT, fails to fulfil many of the Messsianic expectations in the native air of Palestine in the years spanning His life-time.
Jesus actually took it upon Himself to amend Tradition in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, where there are several passages in which Jesus says: “You have heard from the past…..but I say to you…..” Just who does Jesus think He is?! Again, hardly the sort of approach inventors of a Messiah, fulfilling Jewish expectations, would have devised.