Christ lived 2015 years ago, yet
we allow our impression of his life to be formed by a committee of men in Rome
400 years after he died. Perhaps there is merit, now, in an enlightened world to
reconsider some prior impressions and interpretations of Christ’s life. Perhaps
by being willing to see that others have contemplated his life through a
different lens, we can begin to contemplate his message through the lens of
modernity, perhaps we then can develop a Christianity that is relevant to
our times and offers flexibility on our path forward; rather than has so
often been the case, where religion has foiled or obstructed human progress.
Origen of Alexandria converted to Christianity around 200
AD. I read a description of his interpretation of God. It has it, that God is a
concentration of spirit from which souls emanate, one might imagine a wellspring of human spirit genitally bubbling, and each bubble is a human soul and
seeks to unite with a human being. This entity that is god exists in perfection and binds the entire universe on a foundation of perfection. Upon death, the
soul then reunites with the perfection of God and becomes one with the
universe.
There is a refreshing absence of threat in this view. It is
consistent with the cyclical nature of other phenomena in the natural world
that are readily observable. There is the presence here of a harmonious
acceptance of my humanity and the absence of contorting doctrines; there is
only the unobstructed union with perfection. I can imagine a beautiful child
coming into being and being touched by perfection. The child, as its life
develops will then be exposed to the rigours of existence and upon death
be returned to perfection, having lived a life absent the fear of the all
mighty and only with love to look forward to. This view finds accord with Jesus
as was exemplified by his good works on earth and his innate tolerance and peacefulness.
This view stands in startling contrast to the doctrine of
original sin, which has an innocent child labelled a sinner on the assertion that
human inclination, the inclination that emanates from divine origins is wrong. Augustine
was seriously challenged as a human being and tormented by his own sexuality.
Of course, he would ascribe ugliness where beauty lives. When I see a child, I
see the beauty and the opportunity for good things to come. Augustine projected his
own angst around human sexuality and turned a beautiful exchange between a man
and woman into sin. His legacy pervades Christendom’s psyche to this very
day, distorting human conduct through the negative conditioning that finds
expression in many of the formal Christian institutions, the sin lies in
placing evil on a creation of a perfect god and inserting guilt where joy
should be. One of the most unfortunate events in the journey of Christianity
was the credence given to a sick man.
I would be concerned about levelling this
complaint against original sin, save that many in the two institutions that
have to manage its legacy share this view. Distorting doctrine is in no way
peculiar to original sin or Christianity – it is merely the subject matter I am
familiar with, the general sternness by which religion, in general, has dealt natural
human inclination is resulting in much pain and distortion.
With Origen’s Christianity,
liberation lives, as a person, you're connected to perfection, always present
and always accessible. So rather than quaking in fear at a patriarch hijacked
by a human being for concern of power, you're in direct connection with the
supreme being and able to live life liberated from anthropogenic influence,
with the full knowledge that perfection will be the net result of your
existence.
In the 400 AD version of events, there has been gross infidelity
in the delivery of Christ’s message, as it has been anthropomorphized with his message sullied first and second as his message has been hijacked by political
concern. One is hopeful now that in the ambit of the hard-won advancements that
the enlightenment has given us, we can bring free and open minds to the task of
theological contemplations. I dare say unless the people of Christendom do,
the absence of contemporary support due to the absence of relevant doctrine in the modern context will leave Christendom to erode against its own intransigence
until it fades to inconsequence; as it has done in much of the “enlightened”
world - this would be a loss to us all.
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