Please look again through the Novak selections on Christianity (pp. 225-264). Cite a passage here that shows particularly well how Christianity thrives as a "world" religion, i.e., a religion that isn't bound to a specific historical niche? Do you see anything here hat might make it hard for Christianity to expand beyond its original homeland?
I'd very much like to see if we can get a "synchronous" discussion going online today (Friday, July 26). I'll be monitoring the blog from 10:00 until 11:50 trying to respond to your comments. I'd appreciate it also if you would comment on each others' posts.
Hello! Is anybody out there?
ReplyDeleteI don't know why the time is wrong. It is 10:13.
ReplyDeleteBlogger time is California time--two hours behind us.
DeleteI am here, waiting for student comments....
ReplyDeleteCan you see mine? Barb
Delete"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" (Novak, p. 226) Martin Luther King, Jr.'s eloquent speech illustrates "the universal theme of liberation." Christianity thrives as a world religion because it offers freedom for all: freedom from guilt, shame, sin, death, hatred, loneliness, pain, sickness, hurt, and basically, whatever you need. Jesus gave Himself for us on the cross so that we can receive redemption and freedom. Our part is to receive all He has for us.
ReplyDeleteThis suggests an interesting potential paper topic. In one of my first college courses, I was asked to do a paper contrasting conceptions of freedom in Marx, Sartre, and some of the other philosophers. Contrasting what the various religions have to say about freedom could make for a good paper.
DeleteIs the next paper due August 1st?
DeleteI am not a robot. Are you?
ReplyDeleteNope. I have free will. And I can pass the Turing test....
Delete"We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen." (Novak, pp. 263 - 264)
ReplyDeleteThis passage from the Nicene Creed emphasizes how Christianity is a World Religion.
The creed does point to some of the key "universal appeal" doctrines. Again, it strikes me that there is potential for a paper topic here--contrasting creeds. As we talk about "secularism" as a religion, it might be good to figure out exactly what the secularist creed is.
DeleteI agree that the Nicene Creed makes unquestionable statements that emphasize that Christianity is for all people. It begins with the affirmation that the same God created all of the earth and all people on it. So, both the introduction and the conclusion which Barb already mentioned leave out nobody.
Deletehere
ReplyDeleteWelcome!
DeleteGood Morning, Christina!
DeleteSimilar to what Barb said I think that one of the main reasons for the fact that Christianity thrived as a world religion is the fact that it did see people as equals. You didn't need to be a special class or type of person to participate. Also it did reach out to the outcasts of society. The poor, the sick, the hungry, widow, children all the vulnerable members of society and helped them. I think this goes along way to building up the respect they may have for it.
ReplyDeleteQuite a contrast with Hinduism. Lynn's paper did an especially good job highlighting the ways in which Hinduism reinforced inequality.
DeleteVery much so. With Christianity it is hard to enforce inequality when the scriptures teach that everyone is made in the image of G-d.
Deleteyes god would go to what was considered the lowest people and heal them because he saw them as equals to others.
DeleteYes, even though it got him into lots of trouble!
DeleteWhat does this phrase mean on Novak, p. 262,
ReplyDelete"they gave to Barbabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised."?
I think they are just shaking hands in confirmation of the agreement they have made. Paul and Barnabas are going to concentrate on evangelizing non-Christians, the apostles will concentrate on evangelizing the Jews, and they won't get in each others' way. Later, Paul and Barnabas have an amicable separation too. When the two men don't agree on Mark's suitability for ministry, Barnabas takes Mark with him and Paul sets out in a different direction.
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DeleteI'm here, just typing my answer..
ReplyDeleteGood Morning, Aleya!
Delete"Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and He answered, 'The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it is!' For in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.' (Novak, pp. 248 - 249) This is another example of the universality of Christianity. Makes me think of 1 Corinthians 12:12, "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ." and 1 Cor. 12:26-27, "If one part suffers, every part suffers with it, if one part is honored, every part suffers with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."
ReplyDeleteI think that communion imagery too points to the unity of the church. Catholics teach of "transubstantiation," the bread becoming the body of Christ. If one thinks of the believers as the body of Christ, the bread of communion does become part of that body--literally!
DeleteThe reply of the kingdom of G-d is among you reminds me of a Confucius approach. Focusing on this world and bettering relations among each other here and not looking to some future incarnation or completely focusing on death and the afterlife. Also that everybody has their role to play in G-d's plan or design.
DeleteYou are right, David. I think this addresses the key issue Lawrence Diggs seemed to have trouble with, that led him to look outside of Christianity. He seems to think that it is only about having sins forgiven and going to heaven, but there is so much more to our faith. Jesus called disciples with the words "follow me". He said that his original followers were also to make disciples (Novak, p. 253, quoting Mat. 28:18-20), meaning we have a mission for our time on earth that continues as a leadership role after death. (2 Tim 2:12; Rev 20:6)
DeleteJesus' followers in the early church certainly did seem to have this effect - Jason and others of Paul's converts in Thessalonica are called "these that have turned the world upside down"!
DeleteGlad you brought this up. Mr. Diggs reflects a common idea that salvation is about going to heaven. New Testament teaching focuses more on salvation as salvation from sin: how can we quit doing the things we know we shouldn't do and don't really want to do, yet find ourselves doing anyway.
DeleteI think this decision was key to Christianity becoming a world religion. This was an official ruling by the "inner circle" leaders of Jesus' disciples, Peter and John, that the Gospel was for not just Jews but Gentiles (all non-Jews). This is the head of the church officially sending Paul and Barnabas to spread the Gospel to the world.
ReplyDelete(Probably the James was Jesus' brother, and not James son of Zebedee, because Herod had killed him; the timing is not absolutely certain because the quote in the Novak book is from Galatians, and the account of James' death is in Acts.)
I agree that they realized that they had to look at the bigger picture and break with their own tradition of keeping the Gentile world away at arms length so that it could spread from the Jewish world to the Gentile one.
DeleteThings that make Christianity difficult to spread I think would be how alien the actions that endorses are to people's normal reactions such as bless those who curse you, turn the other cheek, denying yourself, and its teachings of self sacrifice for others. Many people even today are confused by this and see this as idiocy.
ReplyDeleteOther things that may have made it difficult to spread was in the beginning it was tied into Jewish law. To become a christian you had to already be a Jew and have accepted the entirety of the law and then you could be a christian. The early church removed this requirement so as not to turn away people truly seeking or to make it more difficult for them than it already was or needed to be.
People don't always turn the other cheek or self-sacrifice or others. They would rather be selfish people and turning the other cheek isn't always easy.
Delete"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him: nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned...But we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:14 - 15) God's ways do seem foolish to many: love those who hate you; give so that you may prosper; walk by faith and not by sight; give the sacrifice of praise when you don't feel like it; rejoice in suffering; forgive people 490 times a day; bless those who curse you; don't repay evil for evil,be a servant to all, and so on. Almost always our natural reponse is the exact opposite of Jesus's teachings. How is it that by obeying the law, we become free?
Delete“And you are, all of you, sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. ... And there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of your are one in Christ Jesus” (Novak, 255, point 31b).
ReplyDelete-This say we are all equal in God through Jesus and you don’t have to be a specific kind of person to enter into God’s kingdom.
“God... is not far from each of us. For in him we live and move and have our being” (Novak, 255, point 32a).
-This says that no matter where you are, God is always with you.
“So radical was Paul’s conversion, however, that he insisted the gospel be preached universally, beyond the bounds and requirements of Jewish tradition” (Novak, 261, point 35).
-Paul follows what Jesus says on page 253, number 28- to go to all nations and preach the gospel.
David talks about things in Christianity that are contrary to our natural inclinations (e.g., turn the other cheek). What about the universality of the Christina message Aleya talks about? Is that in accord with our natural inclinations or not?
DeleteAs far as Aleya's response, I think that man always had the potential to live up to the universality of accepting all races and classes of people as equal, but frequently people fall short of this. To me it seems that the reinforcement of it in a person's culture seems to help encourage it or it needs to be worked at.
DeleteYes, I agree- culture does encourage your religion, however, I've found that many times (not all) the strongest Christians are the ones who "converted" because they know what life was like before having God in their lives and never want to go back. For example, when I was at YWAM last year I had a speaker from South Africa who used to be called "The Artist" because of what he would do to hurt other people, anyway he became a Christian and a very strong witness to people all over the world with his testimony as well as to those who used to know him and saw this radical change in his life.
DeleteA section that shows why Christianity thrives is deeds of power on page 231-232. Talks about exorcism, healing a paralyzed man, healing a Hemorrhaging and giving insight to a blind man. The healing a Hemorrhaging and giving insight to a blind man says that their faith has healed them and they were healed. In the exorcism Jesus told the devil to get out of the man with this authority. The healing a paralyzed man he says that your sins have forgiven you and that the Son of Man has authority to forgive you. People would find this attractive because they would like to be forgiven for their sins or to be healed.
ReplyDeleteHow universal is the feeling that one needs forgiveness for sin? If it is universal, why do you think this is?
DeleteA lot of people want to forgiven for something they've done. Whether it is that they hurt someone or they just feel guilty. Most people have something they feel guilty about some time in their life. Would be great if it just could be forgiven and you can forgive yourself and move on.
DeleteI think that people generally know if they've done something wrong, but not everyone may realize it's a "sin." I know if I sin because I feel convicted by the Holy Spirit; however, someone who is not a Christian might not feel convicted of doing anything wrong and therefore in their minds don't need to be forgiven of anything. In another case, some people might feel that they could never be forgiven because what they did was "unforgivable."
DeleteHowever, when you present a God who not only will forgive you for what you did, but never bring it up again as if you hadn't done anything wrong in the first place- that's an incredible thing to hold on to and grasp!
Christina, it is hard to forgive ourselves but if we repent (turn the other way) God gives us a fresh, new start every day! Lamentations 3:21 - 24 says, "This I recall to my mind. Therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him'. God loves you that much!
DeleteI think the origins of Christianity pose problems for universal acceptance in two ways. First, Jesus being rejected as a leader by his own people would not make him likely to be accepted by others. Second, the fact that He was tried and sentenced to death by Pilate, who represented the voice of all Gentile authority there, should have made it obvious that the whole world had rejected Jesus. Any religion based on this sort of beginning that survives is a strong testimony that there is more than just natural forces at work here.
ReplyDelete"For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law, but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whosee praise is not from men but from God. Romans 2:25 - 29 Since God looks upon the heart, let us honor Him with obedient hearts.
ReplyDeleteJust about ready to wrap things up here, though (of course) those of you who want to continue to chat online are welcome to do so. Thanks for all the comments--much good material here.
ReplyDeleteBarb asks above about the paper due date. My plan was to have the papers and projects due on August 1st so that I could grade them and get them right back to you on the last day of class (August 2). August 2nd, though, is scheduled to be another of these online sessions, so that plan won't work so well. Let's talk about this on Monday. I think what we should probably do is have a *live* class session next Friday rather than the online session.
Thanks again for all your comments today.
Have a nice weekend, everybody!
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