The Puzzle of Christianity. Peter Vardy
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Название: The Puzzle of Christianity

Автор: Peter Vardy

Издательство: HarperCollins

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isbn: 9780008204259

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СКАЧАТЬ sinners and outcasts, something that no pious Jew would do. He touched a leper, which was condemned by the Jewish law. He healed a person on the Jewish holy day and this was also condemned (Luke 6:6–11). The teachers of His time were continually trying to trap Him and to show that He was not really a faithful Jew at all, still less a prophet. On one occasion they brought to Him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. The punishment according to the Jewish law was clear: she had to be stoned to death. His critics thought that they had him in a trap – either He had to forgive her and show that He rejected the Jewish law and was not a genuine prophet at all, or He had to condemn her and all His talk of forgiveness would be undermined. Jesus’ response was simple. He said that whoever had never committed a sin should throw the first stone. Clearly no one was in this position, so they all went away and left Him with the woman. Jesus did not condemn her; He merely said gently, ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’ (John 8:3–11). Gentleness and yet a firm devotion to God was at the heart of all Jesus did, and this message shone through in a way that the teaching of the priests and law-givers of the time did not.

      Whereas most Jews of the time were angry with the Romans, Jesus treated those Romans He met with compassion and understanding. On one occasion an attempt was made to trick Him by asking whether Jews should pay taxes to Rome (Luke 20:20–26). Again, whichever answer He gave would seem to land Him in trouble. If He said that taxes should be paid, then He would not be seen as a devout Jew, as Jews bitterly resented the Roman taxes, so He would become unpopular. If He said that taxes should not be paid, then He would have been arrested by the Roman authorities. It seemed He could not win. His answer was simple. He asked for a coin to be shown to Him and then asked whose head was on it. ‘Caesar’s,’ was the answer; He simply said, ‘Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’ In other words, what mattered was not the issue of taxes but where the hearts of people really were. Many were so preoccupied with money and material things that God had been altogether forgotten.

      Jesus was in no doubt that the way a person lived would determine what happened after death, and He was also in no doubt that there was a separation between heaven and hell. The punishments in hell were severe. In one case Jesus told the story of a rich man who went to hell and a poor man, Lazarus, who used to sit at the gate of the rich man and beg, and who after death went to heaven (Luke 16:19–31). The rich man pleaded for mercy or, at least, that Lazarus could be sent to his living relatives to warn them. Jesus said that no move was possible from hell to heaven and that sending someone who had died to the living relatives would not achieve anything. If they did not believe the Jewish prophets, they would not even believe if someone rose from the dead (a poignant look forward to His own resurrection).

      We have already seen that at the baptism of Jesus the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove. The role of the Holy Spirit is vital in Christianity; it is seen as the Spirit of God in God’s self which strengthens, comforts and, in some cases, guides Christians. Jesus said to His disciples that when He died He would not leave them alone, as the Holy Spirit would remain with them. The Holy Spirit, Jesus and God in God’s self are one in Christianity; this gives rise to one of the most important of all Christian doctrines. This is that God is Trinitarian. God is one, but God is also Three. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the three persons of the undivided Trinity with no separation between them. It cannot be emphasised strongly enough that this does not mean that there are three gods, as some critics were to later maintain. Christianity is firmly committed to both the unity of God and to God’s essentially Trinitarian nature. This is, Christians accept, a mystery, but it is a mystery that is at the heart of Christian faith. The Trinitarian doctrine means that when the Holy Spirit comes to a Christian this is the same as God in God’s self. Fifty days after Jesus’ death, at what has become called Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came directly to Jesus’ followers when they were gathered together. The presence of the Holy Spirit provides, therefore, the guarantee that God is with them always in a very personal way.

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      Figure 3: Andrei Rublev’s extraordinary icon of the Old Testament Trinity, depicting the three visitors who came to Abraham (Genesis 18:1–15), shows God as three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – sitting at a table with a fourth place set for the viewer. The chalice (the cup used for wine in Catholic and many other Christian services) symbolises the Eucharist or Mass in which Christians participate. The figures are not looking at each other but form a circle to include the viewer.

      Towards the end of His ministry, Jesus sent His followers out with a command to spread the good news (the Gospel) which He had come to deliver. He is recorded as saying:

      Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

      (Matthew 28:19–20)

      As we saw in the last chapter, just before He died Jesus shared a meal with His twelve closest friends. This has become known as the Last Supper. At this meal Jesus took bread and broke it and shared the pieces amongst His disciples; however, He also said words that were to have a decisive impact on future Christian practice: ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22:19). Then He took wine and when He had given thanks He again shared this with His disciples, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’ (Luke 22:20). These words form the basis for what Christians variously call the Eucharist, the Mass, or the Lord’s Supper. Different Christians have varying understanding of how these words of Jesus are to be interpreted. Catholic Christians take the words literally and have long argued that, at the Mass, when the priest consecrates the bread and wine, there is a ‘change of substance’ and it becomes the body and blood of Christ, although the believer continues to experience it as bread and wine. This gives rise to the Catholic practice of the consecrated bread or wafer being adored by the believer, and of the priest consecrating the bread and wine (which only a priest can do) and then this being distributed to the faithful by a lay person. Catholics call bread that has been consecrated and kept in this way ‘the reserved sacrament’ and it is kept close to the altar in a tabernacle with a candle burning beside it. Other Christians, such as Anglicans, maintain that Jesus is ‘really present’ at the Eucharist but they do not specify in what way (see here). Many Protestant Christians see the bread and wine as symbolically representing Jesus’ presence (some Protestants use fruit juice instead of wine because of the alcoholic nature of wine). There are, therefore, differences in understanding. Nevertheless, almost all Christians are united in the importance of taking seriously Jesus’ words at the Last Supper.

      Jesus had twelve close friends or disciples who accompanied Him throughout His ministry. Three of these were particularly close to Him – Peter, James and John. James and John were brothers whilst Peter was a former fisherman, an impetuous man who would often speak first and think later. Jesus prophesied that the kingdom of heaven was coming and that He, His disciples and all who followed Him would share in this kingdom. Gradually the disciples came to realise that this was not an earthly kingdom but a heavenly one and, naturally enough, the question arose as to who would be the leaders and closest to Jesus in His new kingdom. The mother of James and John came to Jesus and asked if her sons could sit one on His left and one on His right when He came into His new kingdom (Matthew 20:20–23). In asking this, she showed a lack of understanding as to the nature of the coming kingdom. Unlike earthly kingdoms, the new heavenly kingdom would be one of love and service where those who sought to be first would be least important and those who were humble and thought nothing of themselves would be first. It was an inversion of all the values underlying worldly power and achievement. Jesus pointed out that the path to the new kingdom lay through service to others, suffering and death – hardly an attractive prospect. He also made clear that Christians would necessarily suffer in this world, just as He would have to suffer. Jesus, therefore, inverted all the СКАЧАТЬ