Saturday, September 29, 2018

Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of Christian Universalism

 By Rudy Barnes, Jr.

Christian Universalism gives the moral teachings of Jesus precedence over exclusivist mystical beliefs that condemn unbelievers.  Thomas Jefferson emphasized that priority in his Jefferson Bible, which has been recognized by New Testament scholars as a seminal work that separates “the real teachings of Jesus from the encrustations of Christian doctrine.”

A resurrection of Christian Universalism is needed to liberate the teachings of Jesus from exclusivist church doctrines.  Those universalist teachings are summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors of other races and religions as we love ourselves.  (Luke 10:25-37) It is a common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

The disarray of Christian morality testifies to the need for a Christian reformation to conform its mystical beliefs and moral imperatives to the teachings of Jesus.  And the moral teachings of Jefferson’s Jesus provide universalist standards of legitimacy that foster interfaith dialogue among Christians and Muslims as a common word of faith in pluralistic democracies.  

The teachings of Jesus are found in the four Gospel accounts.  The three Synoptic gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke are closest to a historical account of the life and teachings of Jesus.  The Gospel of John came much later and is a more symbolic account of Jesus Christ as the mysterious Logos, or word of God.

Mark’s gospel is the first, shortest, and the least embellished of the four gospels.  It opens with Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan, where Jesus saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.  And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:10-11).

Jesus was a radical Jewish rabbi who, in the prophetic tradition, taught God’s will; but he never promoted any religion, not even his own.  Jesus called his disciples to follow him, not to worship him; and he preached a gospel of love over law (Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-6; 7:14-23).  Jesus angered religious leaders who taught that Mosaic Law was God’s standard of righteousness.              
 
When the mother and brother of Jesus came looking for him early in his ministry, Jesus told those around him: Who are my mother and my brothers?  ...Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother. (Mark 3:3-35)  In this passage Jesus described spiritual kinship in a universal family of God that had no religious boundaries for all who followed his teachings.

Exclusivist Christian beliefs that condemn unbelievers are based on man-made church doctrines, not the teachings of Jesus.  Jesus taught that salvation--transcending our depraved human nature to experience our eternal spiritual nature--comes through the transforming power of God’s love; and that love is reciprocal--we must give it to others to receive it. (Luke 6:36-38)

Christian Universalism can resurrect the teachings of Jesus from exclusivist church doctrines and make them the foundation for religious and political reconciliation in a world where increased religious diversity has made such reconciliation essential to world peace.  Even so, universalism will be opposed by Christianity and Islam, since those religions promote their popularity and power with the exclusivist belief that all unbelievers are condemned to hell.


Notes:

The scriptures cited above on the teachings of Jesus are compared with comparable teachings of Muhammad in The Teachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy, an interfaith study guide posted at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3gvZV8mXUp-aTJubVlISnpQc1U/view, in Resources on the home page of  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/p/resources.html.  
The role of Jefferson’s Jesus in the study guide is described in the Introduction at pp. 10-15.
On the greatest commandment at Mark 12:28-33, see pp. 25-29.
On “who is my neighbor?” in the story of the good Samaritan at Luke 10:25-37, see pp. 223-225.
On give, and you will receive God’s love, see Luke 6:36-38 at pp. 212-214.
On love over law, see Mark 2:23-28; 3:1-6; and 7:14-23 at pp. 31-37.
On the universal family of God at Mark 3:31-35, see pp.  21-24.

The Universalist Church of America has a rich history beginning in the 18th century, up to its 1961 merger with Unitarians to form Unitarian Universalists.  Concepts of Christian Universalism remain in other Christian groups, including evangelicals, charismatics and more liberal progressive Christians. See Wikipedia on Christian universalism at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_universalism.

Christian universalism should be distinguished from the universal aspiration of traditional Christianity to convert the world to exclusivist Christian beliefs.  “Universalism is the theological doctrine that all souls will eventually find salvation in the grace of God” (Webster), while traditional Christians believe that salvation is limited to those who believe in exclusivist Christian doctrines.  Universalism and exclusivist religious beliefs are diametrically opposed, but the two views are often confused. See Joran Slane Oppelt’s answer of to the question Is a universal community under one religion possible? at Progressing Spirit at https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxvzKkvdMlrnTlWFvjNXftgTwGrL.  Christian Universalism is not about religious conformity, but compatibility in a world of increasing religious diversity.   

On universalism generally, see Universalism: A theology for the 21st century, by Forrest Church, November 5, 2001, at http://www.uuworld.org/articles/universalism-theology-the-21st-century.


Related Commentary

(12/8/14): Religion and Reason
(1/4/15): Religion and New Beginnings: Salvation and Reconciliation in the Family of God
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
(2/8/15): Promoting Religion Through Evangelism: Bringing Light or Darkness?
(2/15/15): Is Religion Good or Evil?
(4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(8/30/15): What Is Truth?
(10/4/15): Faith and Religion: The Same but Different
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(6/18/16): A Politics of Reconciliation with Liberty and Justice for All
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad
(12/17/16): Discipleship in a Democracy: A Test of Faith, Legitimacy and Politics
(12/31/16): E Pluribus Unum, Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
(1/7/17): Religion and Reason as Sources of Political Legitimacy, and Why They Matter
(1/21/17): Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is Ridiculous
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy
(7/15/17) Religion and Progressive Politics
(7/22/17): Hell No!
(7/29/17): Speaking God’s Truth to Man’s Power
(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious Exclusivism  
(9/9/17): The Evolution of the American Civil Religion and Habits of the Heart http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/09/the-evolution-of-american-civil.html.
(9/23/17): Tribalism and the American Civil Religion  
(10/7/17): A 21st Century Reformation to Restore Reason to American Civil Religion http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.
(12/2/17): How Religious Standards of Legitimacy Shape Politics, for Good or Bad
(12/16/17): Can Democracy Survive the Trump Era?
(12/23/17): If Democracy Survives the Trump Era, Can the Church Survive Democracy? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/12/if-democracy-survives-trump-era-can.html.
(1/13/18): Nationalist Politics and Exclusivist Religion: Obstacles to Reconciliation and Peace
(1/20/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Morality and Religion in Politics
(1/27/18): Musings on Conflicting Concepts of Christian Morality in Politics
(2/17/18): Musings of a Maverick on Money, Wall Street, Greed and Politics
(3/3/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on America’s Holy War
(3/24/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christian Morality as a Standard of Legitimacy http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_24.html
(3/31/18): Altruism: The Missing Ingredient in American Christianity and Democracy
(4/7/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Need for a Moral Reformation
(4/28/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Virtues and Vices of Christian Morality
(5/5/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Nostalgia as an Obstacle to Progress
(5/12/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christianity and Making America Great Again
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(7/21/18): Musings on America’s Moral and Political Mess and Who Should Clean It Up
(8/4/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religious Problems and Solutions in Politics
(8/11/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Changing Morality in Religion and Politics
(8/25/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Moral Priorities in Religion and Politics
(9/1/18): Musings on the American Civil Religion and Christianity at a Crossroads
(9/15/18): Who Put Jesus on the Cross and Trump on the Throne? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/09/who-put-jesus-on-cross-and-trump-on.html.
(9/22/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Losing Religion and Finding Faith

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Losing Religion and Finding Faith

 By Rudy Barnes, Jr.


I had to lose faith in an exclusivist Christian religion to find faith in the universalist teachings of Jesus.  His teachings promote religious compatibility but not conformity in a world of increasing religious diversity, where exclusivist religions cause division, hatred and violence.  Universalism is about spiritual kinship in a family of God that has no religious boundaries.

I grew up in a Methodist church where the first priority of faith was to follow the teachings of Jesus as the word of God.  That’s discipleship. Church doctrine has shifted emphasis from discipleship to exclusivist beliefs in Jesus as a surrogate Christian god.  While I have rejected exclusivist Christian beliefs I have kept faith in discipleship, and have continued to grow in faith.

I’m not alone.  An increasing number of “nones” have left traditional religions questioning the relevance of ancient mystical and exclusivist religious doctrines.  They include many Jews, Christians and Muslims who have become spiritual but not religious people.  They left religion but have kept faith in God as a universalist spiritual power that is bigger than any religion.

Jesus was a Jewish universalist who never promoted any religion, not even his own, and never condemned those of other religions.  His teachings are summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and love our neighbors, including those of other races and religions, as we love ourselves--and that’s a common word of faith of Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

Early church leaders subordinated the moral teachings of Jesus to belief in Jesus Christ as the Trinitarian alter ego of God.  They knew that the altruistic teachings of Jesus on sacrificial love would never be popular, but that exclusivist beliefs in the divinity of Jesus--with hell the alternative for unbelievers--could be the foundation of a popular and powerful religion.

Ancient Christian creeds emphasize exclusivist man-made Christian doctrines that were never taught by Jesus; and Martin Luther’s Reformation doctrine of sola fide (faith alone) affirmed the priority of faith over works.  Even so, the teachings of Jesus remained moral imperatives of Christianity until displaced by Christian evangelicals in the 20th century.

A coalition of big business and Christian evangelicals gained prominence after World War II with popular evangelists like Billy Graham, and was politicized by Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority.  It promoted distorted doctrines of ”family values” and a materialistic prosperity gospel, and in 2016 it elected a president whose morality is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus.

What is the future of an exclusivist Christian religion that has lost its moral compass?  With disillusioned “nones” leaving the church, American Christianity is now a declining religion of exclusivist beliefs bereft of the altruistic moral standards taught by Jesus.  Without a moral reformation emphasizing altruistic universalist principles, the future of Christianity looks bleak.
 
Islam has similar problems with religious exclusivism and ambiguous morality.  Radical Islamists promote violence in the name of God based on a perfect and immutable Qur’an and its Islamic Law (Shari’a), much as Christian fundamentalists believe in the Bible as the inerrant and infallible word of God and promote the radical right politics of evangelical Christianity.      

Universalism is a via media (middle way) that can reconcile progressive Christians and Muslims.  That’s essential to world peace since Christians and Muslims make up over half of the world’s population.  While universalists are a minority among Christians and Muslims, they can be a reconciling voice promoting a common word of faith in those competing religions.

That common word of faith rejects religious exclusivism with universalist beliefs based on loving God and our neighbors as we love ourselves.  While universalism rejects exclusivism, it respects the many differences in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and gives those religions a future in a globalized world that is not possible with exclusivist beliefs that condemn unbelievers.  


Notes:

On universalism, see Universalism: A theology for the 21st century, by Forrest Church, November 5, 2001, at http://www.uuworld.org/articles/universalism-theology-the-21st-century.
On the few remaining universalists, see https://christianuniversalist.org/.

On why an increasing number of American “nones” don’t identify with a religion, a Pew Research Center survey found that 60% question religious teachings, and 49% oppose positions taken by churches on social and political issues.  See http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/08/why-americas-nones-dont-identify-with-a-religion/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=a709783228-RELIGION_WEEKLY_2018_08_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e953b9b70-a709783228-399971105

On Losing Faith: Why South Carolina is abandoning its churches, see https://www.thestate.com/news/local/article215014375.html#wgt=trending
 

Related Commentary:

(12/8/14): Religion and Reason
(1/4/15): Religion and New Beginnings: Salvation and Reconciliation in the Family of God
(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(2/8/15): Promoting Religion Through Evangelism: Bringing Light or Darkness?
(2/15/15): Is Religion Good or Evil?
(3/22/15): The Power of Humility and the Arrogance of Power
(4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(8/30/15): What Is Truth?
(10/4/15): Faith and Religion: The Same but Different
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(3/26/16): Religion, Democracy, Diversity and Demagoguery
(5/14/16): The Arrogance of Power, Humility and a Politics of Reconciliation
(6/4/16): Christianity and Capitalism: Strange Bedfellows in Politics
(6/18/16): A Politics of Reconciliation with Liberty and Justice for All
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad
(11/26/16): Irreconcilable Differences and the Demise of Democracy
(12/17/16): Discipleship in a Democracy: A Test of Faith, Legitimacy and Politics
(12/31/16): E Pluribus Unum, Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
(1/7/17): Religion and Reason as Sources of Political Legitimacy, and Why They Matter
(1/21/17): Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is Ridiculous
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(4/1/17): Human Rights, Freedom and National Security
(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World
(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy
(7/15/17) Religion and Progressive Politics
(7/29/17): Speaking God’s Truth to Man’s Power
(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious Exclusivism  
(9/9/17): The Evolution of the American Civil Religion and Habits of the Heart http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/09/the-evolution-of-american-civil.html.
(9/23/17): Tribalism and the American Civil Religion  
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(1/13/18): Nationalist Politics and Exclusivist Religion: Obstacles to Reconciliation and Peace
(1/20/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Morality and Religion in Politics
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(8/4/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religious Problems and Solutions in Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.
(8/11/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Changing Morality in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_11.html.
(8/25/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Moral Priorities in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-moral.html.
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