How Could a Message of Love Be So Badly Misunderstood?
When Love is the ultimate power in the Universe
The Fragmentation of Christianity
As of April 2023, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity estimates that there are more than 45,000 Christian denominations worldwide, with over 200 in the United States. These denominations can range in size from fewer than 100 members to millions.
This statement illustrates the multitude of different interpretations of Christianity. It points to a lack of agreement on many essential points of understanding and practicing what should be the key points of Jesus’ message.
The message of Jesus was not complicated. Not easy to live by, but not difficult to figure out. So, how did we get to this fragmentation point that demonstrates a cacophony of disagreements?
Jesus Christ did not create a new religion.
The first consideration is that Jesus Christ did not create a new religion, and it was not his intent to abandon Judaism, his religion of birth.
However, Jesus did want to change the focus of how the Hebrews should understand their role as children of God. This change of focus included how to adjust their behavior (Sermon on The Mount) and how to worship with more intent and less focus on religious rites and rituals.
The second consideration is that Christianity was created progressively from the participation of a myriad of people who often disagreed with each other.
The third consideration is the effect on the objectives and direction of Christianity when it became the Roman Empire’s official religion during the middle to late 4th century. Clearly, the political agenda of the Roman emperors became a consideration for Church leaders.
The most important decisions that set the direction of what eventually became the Roman Catholic Church took place well over 300 years following the Ascension.
As a result of all of these considerations and events, Christianity unfolded as a dilution of the message of Jesus, invaded by the opinions of numerous other voices, each with their own ideas and opinions.
From Hebrews to Greeks and then Romans
Although the initial followers of Jesus were traditional Hebrews preaching to other Hebrews and sometimes reaching into the Diaspora living near Palestine. They eventually started to preach to the Greeks and, eventually, to the Romans.
Paul’s mission became one of preaching outside Israel. His audience was both Hebrews and Gentiles.
These various early audiences forced a freeing from the constraints of Judaism to become a narrative and message that was more universal in its appeal to the world.
Jesus left no written instructions. Since the episode in Matthew 16:18, when Jesus allegedly appointed Peter to lead his new church, is highly questionable, others started to document what Jesus had said and what it all meant.
(A decision to appoint Peter to create a new religion is questionable because Peter, like John and other key disciples, were devout Hebrews. After the Ascension, they all returned to daily worship at the Temple. Further, the other gospels would likely mention such a critical appointment.)
It is generally accepted that none of the gospels had been written when the Apostle Paul started his ministry. Consequently, some of his letters were the first documents commenting on Jesus and his unique message.
Shortly after, and concurrently with the activities of Paul, the four gospels — rightly or not attributed to four of the disciples, Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John — became available.
Also, during the first 300 years AD, many other documents, now called the Gnostic Gospels, were written to explain Jesus’s life and ministry.
Later, under the influence of the Roman Emperor Constantine and a couple of his successors, several councils of bishops were summoned during the 4th century. Their purpose was to iron out the major issues of Christology and other doctrinal matters.
However, the emperors had their own objectives. They saw Christianity as a tool in holding together the unity of their empire at a time when it was under attack along most of its borders. Consequently, the bishops summoned by these Roman emperors were under political pressure.
In the fifth century, one of the bishops, Augustine, put forth a theology that received considerable attention. Unfortunately, his philosophy of humanity was dark and pessimistic.
From the Middle Ages to the Reformation
During the following 1,000 years, also known as the Dark Ages, little freedom of expression was tolerated either by the clergy or the royalty.
In 1054, the Roman Catholic Church experienced its first schism when the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches split apart.
Then, in the fifteenth century, the Reformation movement shook Europe for four decades, resulting in a complete split between Catholics and those calling themselves Protestants who refused to obey the Catholic Pope. Instead, they followed the new gospels of Martin Luther (1483–1546) and John Calvin (1509–1564).
During the Late Renaissance, in the 16th century, humanists, philosophers, and theologians flourished, opening the doors to freer ideas, even concerning religion.
These Renaissance thinkers, however, were instrumental in fostering different opinions about religious matters, which led to the creation of new Christian denominations.
However, the authors of the Renaissance could not modify the deeply entrenched theological course of Christianity as a whole.
The problem with fragmentation
This historical overview aims to point out how the message of Jesus became adulterated in the process of becoming a major institution. As such, Christianity included many significant worldly considerations, often drowning out the simplicity and uniqueness of Jesus’ “Good News” message.
Denominations emerged and generally defined themselves by what differentiated them from others rather than by recognizing the common ground they shared.
This fragmentation caused many Christians to focus on relative details of their dogma at the cost of forgetting the essential core doctrine that should be dear to all.
A different interpretation of Jesus with the “poor”
Many churches have focused their work on helping the indigent population. This is morally admirable, but spiritually, it misses the point. (See my article, “A Different Interpretation of Jesus and The Poor”)
I believe that when referring to “the poor,” Jesus was not simply speaking of the materially poor but of men and women poor in the awareness of spiritual truth.
Then, his teaching of individual salvation — that is, achieving the awareness of our true individual spiritual identity as Children of God — would be the same regardless of the material wealth of his audience.
Whether speaking to materially rich or poor, the message of Jesus would be the same — rising to the awareness of our true spiritual nature as divine offspring. And recognize that this truth applies to all other humans as well.
Recognition of the Truth of our being and that of all others is a precondition for practicing Jesus’s urging that we love each other.
Is Love failing?
Love, not only as a divine aspect but as the very nature of God, cannot fail.
The failure is on the human side.
We are not sufficiently aware of our true spiritual identity as Children of God: As divine offspring, we are actually made of Divine Love.
Divine Unconditional Love is eternal in God’s perfection. Although this perfect Love exists within us as part of our spiritual DNA, it does not impose itself by coming into the human sphere to fix our shortcomings.
Instead, the Divine Love present as our Soul makes room for our anticipated and desired participation.
We need to let Love work through us and, by so doing, improve the human world. Whatever the resulting improvements, they are not our doing but Its doing.
The problem is that humans can not naturally absorb and express unconditional love.
But there are baby steps we can take to lead us to It.
Let’s start with respect for and civility toward others. Then, we’ll move on to compassion and cooperation. Suddenly, others respond in kind because they experience the mutually beneficial attributes of this approach in contrast to the selfish and ego-centered ways we have favored in the past.
Then, we can reach a tipping point: More and more people will be able to focus their mindset on the pure, simple, and loving message of Jesus.
In this way, Love can truly become the solution to all the human and environmental problems we face today.
Perhaps more discernably than in any of the other major religious traditions, Love is the core message and the distilled divine energy at the heart of Christianity.
And Love is inviting us to dance with It.
Our response has always been our choice and always will be.
Jon Canas
Debunking false creeds. Reclaiming the Soul of Christianity.
Site: https://bio.site/ChristicSoul
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My book: Religion, Politics, and Reclaiming the Soul of Christianity: A Spiritual Imperative for Our Time and Our Nation
