Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Part 332. Following Jesus: nothing more, nothing less.

Consider this remarkable fact: in the Sermon on the Mount there is not a single word about what to believe, only words about what to do 
and how to be.  By the time the Nicene Creed is written, only three centuries later, there is not a single word in it about what to do and how to be - only words about what to believe.
Robin Meyers

Sad, isn't it, developing myth and metaphysical concepts of God:  rather than following the way of Jesus. My theological journey has taken me from the former to the latter.

Marcus Borg expresses it thus:  

It is a way of being Christian in which beliefs are secondary, not primary.  Christianity is a "way" to be followed more than it is a set of beliefs to be believed. Practice is more important than "correct beliefs".  Beliefs are not irrelevant; they do matter.  But they are not the object of faith. God is the "object" of commitment - and for Christians, God is known as Jesus.

It is important to understand in reading the synoptic gospels that we are considering the concepts being advanced and should recognise the documents as being not infallible and/inerrant, but as a collection of myths, memories and other texts selectively edited by the authors.

I have argued before in this blog that the Bible is a human construct. Marcus Borg states it well:

I let go of the notion that the Bible is a divine product. I learned that it is a human cultural product, the product of two ancient communities, biblical Israel and early Christianity. As such, it contained their understanding and affirmations, not statements coming directly or somewhat directly from God...I realised that whatever "divine revelation" and the "inspiration of the Bible" meant (if they meant anything) they did not mean that the Bible was a divine product with divine authority.

Follow the way ofJesus, love your neighbour, campaign for social justice.










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