Jesus the Christ Chapter 32 (Finally!)
And we’re back.
I think we don’t take seriously enough the admonition to not be led astray by false Christs. I absolutely believe that there is truth in a great many places, and that we should seek after that truth, but I think a lot of people allow themselves to be drawn away and into falsehoods by going past where truth is. As much as I love Oprah, she does this a lot- she finds a piece of truth and takes it past its logical conclusion to a place that just justifies wrong behavior. And then people look to her for answers, and that’s what she gives them.
Love the story of the Ten Virgins. And I love that they knew the whole time what it was that they needed to have- it wasn’t like the Bridegroom showed up and said that only people who happened to have a kazoo with them could come with- they either thought ahead and had oil for their lamps or they didn’t.
I need to think about how I do this: “…in a particular sense men are prone to conceive of the attributes of God as comprizing in augmented degree the dominant traits of their own nature.”
I love the insight into the parable of the talents- that the servant who made use of his two talents was equally blessed as the servant who was given and used five. “Let no one conclude that good work of relatively small scope is less necessary or acceptable than like service of wider range.” Love it.
Interesting that earthquakes were more frequent and more intense in the period between Christ’s death and the destruction of Jerusalem.
Your thoughts?
totally unrelated to jesus the christ, but awesome:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09Fs8cbV8lM
(ZuZu!)
I have a hard time reading as my eyes are a bit nuts lately but I admire your dedication to this. I have an eye appointment soon and hope they can get me to see a bit clearer so I can do things up close again. Oh the joys of getting old! Wait until you see the quilt I’m making Jill and Nicholas. Jill picked out the pattern and fabric. It’s not like anything I’ve done before and the class is next week. I’m really nervous about it bz it’s for a very skilled quilter, which I’m not. You’d actually be surprised how easy this last quilt I did was! I took a class in it and they always have shortcuts and easier ways of doing it than the patterns say!
i’ve been in this chapter, and thus dramatically behind, for days now. i was thinking about it this morning as i looked at the book but didn’t open it–i think i’m reluctant to read about christ’s atonement. i need to ponder that more, but it is going to be so intense, and should be, and something in me is holding back from going there.
anyway, i just wanted to let you know what was up with your jesus buddy 🙂
in oprah’s defense (i heart her), i think she’s doing the best she can with the light she has. it’s like she has this little book club of ours, where we talk through stuff, but her “blog” (tv show) is read by millions, instead of the 4 or 5 of us. i tend to cut people a break who are trying to figure out spirituality. but enough about that…
i have a hard time with the parable of the 10 virgins, especially in light of the fascinating little discussion regarding supererogation (awesome word!):
“we know no supererogation but that of the Lord Jesus Christ, through whose merits salvation is placed within the reach of all men.”
first of all, i’m always fascinated by christians, myself included, who minimize christ in their lives, but putting greater emphasis on saints or something else. my way of doing it is the affinity i have for madonna and child images; it’s like i take christ and make him “tiny baby jesus” to make him more palatable or less real. i’m not sure…okay, enough of my own sins 🙂 my point is, we have an actual and amazing case of supererogation in christ’s atonement, so why make up this complicated saint business? fascinating.
okay (this is turning into a LONG comment), in relation to the virgins, i’ve never understood the ultimate rejection of the 5 foolish ones. of course the 5 wise ones couldn’t provide oil (only christ can supererogate, remember), but when given the chance, why didn’t he in this story? it rubs me the wrong way…
I’m so not hating on Oprah, she definitely is working with what she has and is trying so hard to be better and do better. Which is awesome. It just worries me sometimes that people take her as some kind of spiritual expert. I really do think that people put her opinion on a pedestal, and therefore she has the huge potential to lead people astray, even when she’s not at all meaning to. That’s all. I think she’s an amazing person, and I’m by no means calling her a false Christ, I don’t think she’s even remotely taking on that cause for herself.
As for the 10 virgins, I think that the rejection of the 5 came precisely because of their knowledge. These weren’t casual bystanders that the Bridegroom passed on the way and invited who didn’t have adequate oil- I think he would have covered for them. These were invited guests who didn’t make the preparations they had agreed to when they RSVPed (so to speak).
If he had covered for them, he, in effect, would have been taking away the whole point of their agency. He can only supererogate (?) if the proper steps have been taken on the part of the supererogatee. There wouldn’t be a point to us coming to Earth and making choices if Christ’s atonement took care of everything everyone did automatically. That would have basically just been Satan’s plan. I think what this parable illustrates is that there comes a point when, if you’ve procrastinated the day of your repentance, it’s too late. And you can be as sorry as you want to be in the face of the fact that Christ is moving on without you, but it’s just too late. (Granted, that’s around judgment day time, so a long whiles off, but still.) I don’t think most of us really want to hear that. But I think that many of us will be more prepared than we think we are, merely by merit of trying.
I’m also fascinated by the idea of the saints- it’s never been something I really understood, but I can see the appeal, especially if you espouse the Christ and God as the same person theology; with saints then you have a “real person” who did really well to look up to. We know that Christ was that “real person” (in that He had temptations and every bit of a human experience, rather than sliding through life on the merit of being God. I’m not saying other religions don’t think Christ was real, obviously. )
Ok, I have to go make dinner. 🙂
oh, that’s a good point…great, now i think like satan 🙂
hope dinner was yummers…
But don’t we all think like him from time to time? He’s so all about tweaking the definitions of things to make them more palatable– “if God really was merciful….”. No wonder he led/leads so many people the wrong way!
Dinner was good, a new recipe!
Actually, that’s a total lie. The new recipe was the previous night. Last night was Mac n’ cheese. Yummy! 🙂