By Rudy Barnes, Jr., August 3, 2024
In America the church has always been a social institution. Ever since the 4th century when Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire the success of the church has depended on its popularity--despite the fact that the moral teachings of Jesus were never popular; and democracy has only exacerbated that irony.
Christianity became the world’s largest religion due in large part to exclusivist Christian doctrine that limited salvation to Christians. Jesus never taught that God favored one religion over others, and he never advocated the creation of a new religion. In fact, Jesus offended most Jewish religious leaders of his day by teaching the primacy of God’s love over Mosaic Law.
In the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors as we love ourselves in the Synoptic Gospels, and in John’s new command to love one another, Jesus taught his followers to love those of other races and religions as they love themselves; yet church doctrines continue to subordinate those commands to belief in Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation.
It’s past time for the church to debunk doctrines that were never taught by Jesus and conflict with his teachings; but after 2,000 years the dependence of the church on its popularity for its influence and power will likely make that a mission impossible. That means Jesus must be saved from an exclusivist church that has corrupted his universalist teachings.
In 1961 the Universalist Christian denomination merged with the Universalist Unitarian Association; but few Unitarian congregations today emphasize the teachings of Jesus as the word of God. In hindsight, it seems that the emphasis on exclusivist Christian doctrines of belief in the 19th century forced the decline of Christian universalism.
Despite significant declines in the popularity of American churches, few have considered institutional reforms that give the altruistic and universal teachings of Jesus a priority over exclusivist church doctrines never taught by Jesus. While internet conferences can suggest church reforms, most institutional churches are in person and oppose moral reforms.
With 2,000 years of church history and its pervasive institutional structures, changes in church doctrine to give primacy to the teachings of Jesus over doctrines never taught by Jesus will be a hard sell in America’s materialistic and hedonistic culture; but moral reform is needed to save the church from irrelevance and save American democracy from human depravity.
Our churches and democracy have lost their moral compass. It seems increasingly obvious that we will never accept the unpopular but altruistic and universal teachings of Jesus to love those of other races and religions--and all those we don’t like--as we love ourselves. But only that uncomfortable truth can save us from ourselves.
Notes:
No comments:
Post a Comment