I find it fascinating that Christians reject the Law of Moses, saying they have Jesus, but then fail to understand what that means. There are many Christians that quote Romans 7 or Galatians 2 and 5, and claim that Jews are legalistic, at the same time they stick to the letter of the Bible. Spirituality is dampened at least by such piety and many Christians are themselves regarded to be legalistic.
Paul’s “criticism of the Law†is in fact criticism of treating the Law and such observances as the way to salvation in itself, which is a very Jewish criticism. The expression of Jewish faith is observation of the Torah, but out of gratitude and to show thankfulness to God, not as a means of salvation.
In a similar way some Mystics have observed an “Imitatio Christi†based on the Gospels and out gratefulness for their calling to faith. This practise has often been criticised by protestant Christians, maintaining that the Gospels and Epistles, but in particular the theology of Paul, is to be regarded as “God-breathed†Scripture – nothing else (sola scriptura).
Moving to a character that I have found typical for the Christ-like personalities of Church history, John Wyclif too especially emphasised the life of Christ, his poverty, his humility and his patient suffering. If Christ is “our Law†as against the Torah, would not an observance of the life of Christ be the way for Christians to show gratitude and thankfulness to God?
Sören Kierkegaard wrote:
“The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of devious charlatans. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand we are obliged to act accordingly. Take any words in the New Testament and forget everything except pledging yourself to act accordingly. “My God,” you will say, “if I do that my whole life will be ruined.” Herein lays the real place of Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship is the Church’s prodigious invention to defend itself against the Bible, to ensure that we can continue to be good Christians without the Bible coming too close. Dreadful it is to fall into the hands of the living God. Yes, it is even dreadful to be alone with the New Testament.â€
I can’t speak for Christendom but all I can say is that it would be the height of egotism to try and thank God by living a certain way. It’s not a matter of making the old chap happy.
God is too distant. God’s will is not done on earth. This is why the Son and the Crucifixion and Resurrection is necessary to open the way for man to experience re-birth and regain the level of humanity, the change of being, that becomes a part of God’s will.
Christian actions aren’t for external appearance but for the inner experience.
Simone Weil was right when she denounced the conception of the Old Testament God and the effects its had on the essence of Christianity.
Nick, you have missed my point. If we make spirituality purely an internal thing, the external suffering remains. If you pray for people but don’t help them (although you could) there is a clear hypocrisy. What is the value of such spirituality?
The question that people asked john the Baptist and Jesus was, “What shall we do?†They were asking “What should be the result of our insight or repentance and what is the expression of faith?†Simone Weil may have rejected the OT out of her own experience, but Jesus is still very much a Jew when he answers:
So the one result would be taking the inner path, which all Sages, Prophets, Mystics and Sufis etc. agree on as being a path of humility, temperance and patient suffering, but if the love of our neighbour is also an expression of the love of God, the path towards my neighbour is equally as important – indeed, the path towards my enemy becomes a measure of my devotion.
In the Aramaic, the love of enemies is the concern for someone out of rhythm, someone who has become staccato, disjointed or disconnected – even radical. It is the outstretched hand out of the peace of spirituality, offering assistance, which is what we observe Jesus doing. He went to the outcasts and sought communion with them.
You are very moved by the idea that I am talking about “appearance†but have you overlooked compassion? I don’t mention it all of the time, being in a vocation that is the expression of a felt compassion. But I went into elderly care at the age of 38 as the answer to a deepest felt calling. My spirituality has grown out of the need for spiritual counselling amongst the residents and amongst the staff. It too, was a calling that I followed.
Why should I pray “Your will be done†and then not concern myself with how? And, of course I see Good Friday and Easter Sunday as effective symbols of regeneration, it is, as you say, the opening of the way for man to “regain the level of humanity, the change of being, that becomes a part of God’s will.†But what does he do with it then? This seems to be a question that many Evangelists seem to oversee by continually focusing on the calling of evangelism. After that it is just a case of holding out until the end of days.
If you re-read your quote, I have a similar position to Simone Weil, “Long before, however, her wish to partake in the suffering of the distressed led her to a life-style of extreme austerity. It was under these circumstances that, in 1937, Simone Weil became increasingly attracted to Christianity, a religion she considered to be in its true essence a religion of slaves, and therefore in utter contradiction to the actual form it had taken in history.†What have I been saying all along? Isn’t my criticism of the form of the church in history evident? And although people like Uccisore have made it into an attack on people, I have remained within the church and express my love for the common believer, even if I believe that they are deluding themselves very often.
So let us get away from pure “appearance†– although it does play a role in how Christianity is experienced and paves the way to militancy. This is why so many people are horrified by Islamic militancy, although they overlook the militancy of what non-Christians conceive to be “Christianity.†It is the question of the splinter or the beam in the eye.
The appearance of Christianity is very much influenced by its spirituality – or lack of spirituality. The lack of the inward path, the superficial piety that only scratches the surface of our greatest problems, is the cause of the symptoms we so often experience. But all who travel the spiritual path, even those who are as weak as I am, soon discover the affinity to other religions and the similarity of our problems.
All of us ask how we should walk in this calling. Many Christians I experience become complacent with the idea, “I can’t do anything, and God has to give me a blessing before it can blossom.†This may be a true statement, but if I become complacent, how do I differ to non-believers? No wonder then, that the preoccupation with “outreach†and mission has become popular. I experienced it myself, being put into Youth Work before I had even centred my life. I met an attitude that was similar to, “Don’t think about it, do it!†This is where Christianity is suitable to a modern capitalistic society, but far off from the spiritual roots it began with.
I’m not at all against service. The good “householder” is considered a very worth while person and advances along the scale of being much more than many gurus do and acquires salvation from a quality of uncorrupted inner worth.
The Good Samaritan Luke 10: 25-37 is similar to what you posted as Matthew 22 but includes the important detail that the “expert” should do the same. There in lies the rub.
The value of such spirituality That John the Baptist and Jesus referred to is becoming human through re-birth and capable of the “good”.
Heaven and earth are indicative of two levels of being with heaven being the direction of the good. They are inner states man is capable of and there are different degrees of heaven and earth. John, being born of woman or earth could effect the mind so he baptized with water (truth) that could lead to a change in thinking. Jesus became able to baptize with water and the spirit that could touch and effect ones “being” which is more than thinking and lead to the level of the “good.” itself.
This is like Plato’s cave allegory. We cannot experience the light outside the cave so we continually interpret it from the earthly level of being.
So concern for our neighbors is a good on one level but it is through re-birth where the scope of the word can be actualized not in the sense of morality but just what is natural for the being perspective of re-birth.
You speak of compassion and I agree. But human being is such that we become intolerant tomorrow of exactly what we were compassionate towards yesterday. It is the nature of our scattered being. Rebirth replaces imagination with the reality of the spirit allowing thy will to be done. You ask what we can do with it? Everything, since it unites heaven and earth.
In Christianity, motive is everything. As soon as it becomes appearance it loses its inner value. You quote James and it is true. We must carry our cross for Christianity to provide what it can.
The whole of Matthew 6 develops this idea and it is easy to find many other examples. Only we can know how it relates to us.