A few Sundays ago, Christians everywhere celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. Easter, more than any other Christian holiday, is the Super Bowl of the religious tradition. It is the oldest holiday in the Christian church, emphasizing the celebration of Jesus's resurrection.
Here's a fun fact and a question:
Fun Fact
Did you know the word Easter has absolutely nothing to do with Christianity? In fact, its origin is the Germanic word Ēastre, the name of the goddess of spring. So bunnies, eggs, and all the bunny-shaped chocolate you can handle, yeah, it all comes from the goddess of spring, not Jesus....You're welcome.
Question
If Easter is the oldest holiday in the Christian church and emphasizes Jesus's resurrection, what does it mean that Jesus resurrected?
This isn't a trick question. And it's only partly rhetorical.
For most of my life, I was taught the resurrection is that Jesus literally came back from the dead physically. Not only did he come back from the dead, but he also hung around in Jerusalem for 40 days before ascending (read floating up to heaven). Up until a few years ago, I thought this understanding of Jesus was the only view one could have about Jesus to be a Christian.
A Changing Tide That Questions Traditional Christian Beliefs
Over the last few years, I've joined the 28% of Religious Nones in America that have outright rejected organized religion or have seriously examined traditional religious beliefs, and found them wanting. In my case, those traditional beliefs were those associated with evangelical or fundamentalist Christianity.
What I found was that most people don't have an issue with Jesus. Even those who are antagonistic toward Christianity often have issues with Christians' dogmatism, the hypocrisy rampant in the Church, and all the added hoops ‘required’ to be a Christian. But rarely do these folks have a legitimate issue with the historical Jesus or his teachings.
In my own journey, I reached a fork in the road. I could either walk away from religion generally and Christianity specifically, or I could remain in the Christian tradition so long as I didn't have to leave my progressive and compassionate convictions at the door. Like millions of other people, I can no longer be a part of a Christianity that adds the following barriers to following Jesus.
Classic Understandings of Jesus That Are Unpersuasive to Millions
I want to address upfront that for fundamentalists, evangelicals, and many Christian denominations, only believing in all of the points discussed below makes someone a 'true' believer in Jesus. The belief system is a very all-or-nothing, zero-sum game ideology. To question or challenge any of the points below is akin to heresy and calls into question one's salvation. I disagree with this entire system of thinking. Here are four traditional Christian beliefs about Jesus that have been added to Christianity, but millions of people no longer believe.
Jesus' Identity as God's literal Son
Throughout the New Testament, there are a plethora of metaphors used to describe Jesus. Some of them are:
- "Light of the World"
- "Good Shepherd"
- "The Door"
- "Bread of Life"
There are 198 different metaphors or titles used to describe Jesus in the New Testament. Of those 198, how many do most Christians argue are literal rather than metaphorical titles? There's one. That's right—197 titles we're okay with accepting as metaphors describing Jesus, but 'Son of God' not so much.
The title 'Son of God' is the only one that Christians have historically argued is not a metaphor but literal. When we make this title literal, what does it add to our belief in Jesus? It means Jesus can't just be a great man; he has to be God incarnate. Jesus can't simply be the perfect embodiment of what God would be like if God were a human. No, Jesus has to be sinless, no mistakes, no screw-ups, no angry outbursts, no bad days.
If we're being honest, so much of the human experience is making and learning from our mistakes. To say Jesus was fully human but he didn't experience one of the most core aspects of our humanity (making mistakes and learning from them), I don't understand how he could truly be a human like me, or you, or that person over there.
Marcus Borg describes how Jesus loses his credibility as a human being when we take 'Son of God' literally:
Anybody who has the mind and power of God is not one of us, no matter how much he may look like us. Moreover, whenever we emphasize the divinity of Jesus at the expense of his humanity, we lose track of the utterly remarkable human being that he was. (Borg, Marcus J.. The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith (pp. 100-101). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.)
For Jesus to do all that he did in 33 years as a human like you and me makes Jesus an exceptional human being worthy of following. To say Jesus is God, then even his greatest miracles aren't much more than circus tricks if he possesses the power of God.
Was Jesus literally the son of God? Candidly, no, I don't think so. I'll go even further and share that not only do I not think Jesus was the literal son of God, I don't think he thought of himself this way. Mind you, if you do view Jesus this way, that's okay. We disagree, but I wouldn't call your faith into question because of it. Can you say the same about me?
A Belief in the Miraculous Around The Life of Jesus
Another belief that people find as a barrier to believing in Jesus today is all the miraculous events and actions that surround his life. For example, in the traditional Christian view, Mary was a literal virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. If you're Catholic, you believe not only was Mary a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus but she remained a virgin her entire life.
I'm sorry, but all the pain of childbirth with none of the benefits that come with conceiving doesn't sound like a blessing to me. It sounds like a curse. Furthermore, there are those stubborn verses in the gospels (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3, and Luke 8:19-21) that talk about Jesus's siblings. For Protestants, these verses aren’t an issue, but for Catholics, they’re a whistle to commence theological gymnastics to avoid or write off.
There are also Jesus's miracles that he performs in his ministry. I think there's definitely powerful metaphorical language used in telling these stories, and I personally believe Jesus did perform healings. However, did Jesus literally walk on water? I don't think so. I think that's metaphorical language to make a more than literal point. At the same time, if Jesus did literally walk on water, that's cool too, but I think an emphasis on the literal means we lose so much more depth that the original author sought to communicate.
The thing is we don't know so there's no reason to make dogmatic statements and make them measurements of 'true faith' when we simply don't know what actually happened.
Millions would be far more receptive to Jesus' teachings and the power of his life if we stopped making things, like literally believing in the miraculous, a test of orthodoxy.
The Point of Jesus' Life Was to Die for Sin
The purpose of Jesus's death was the tipping point that really drove the change in my views of Jesus. For all of my Christian life, I was told the point of Jesus's life was essentially his death. The whole reason Jesus came into the world was to be the perfect sacrifice in my place to die for my sins.
When the emphasis on Jesus is focused on his death for sin, we completely undermine and discard all of his teaching and life. We do things like, "Jesus befriended the outcast and marginalized; that's all well and good, but the bigger point is he died for my sin."
Or things like, "Jesus stood up to the religious and political domination system of his day. That's all well and good that Jesus connects the Kingdom of God coming to earth with the compassion and justice pursued by his followers. Sure ok, that’s all well and good, but the bigger point is Jesus died for my sin."
Do you see how when we function and teach that the only important part of Jesus's life is his death, we completely ignore or cast aside all of the teaching and example his life offers us? If the point of Jesus’s life is his death, then there’s nothing applicable to me until I die and there’s no relevance to the world. I don’t need a savior that can only help me after I’m dead. I need a savior to show me how to live! In the words of John Dominic Crossan;
“Heaven’s in great shape; earth is where the problems are.” (Borg, Marcus J.. The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith (p. 154). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.)
Jesus is the Only Way to a Relationship with God
Millennials are the first generation in human history to grow up in a religiously plural society. Until the late 1960s and into the 1970s, religious pluralism in America meant 'Protestants, Catholics, and Jews.'
Throughout my childhood, I went to school with kids whose families were practicing Buddhists, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, New Age, and Atheists. Starting with my generation, our entire lived experience has been that humanity has created a lot of religions. To say my religion has the only true revelation from God, possesses the only true way of salvation, and is the only right religion is next-level arrogant, to say the least.
Not only is it arrogant, but it's also quite convenient that it's the religion I believe that's the correct one while everyone else who, like me, has no control over where they were born, when they were born, or their native cultures religious practices, are doomed to eternal damnation. This argument is the ultimate claim of human privilege and comes at the cost of making God far too small.
If God is truly God, then it makes absolute sense that God cannot be fully known or expressed in a single man-made religious tradition. It is far more logical that God is present in every historical religion, can be known through any culture or society, and actively seeks relationships by meeting all of humanity where we are.
As God desires relationship with humanity and the thriving of all people, God has given us uniquely spiritual people to help guide us on a path of loving God and loving others. I personally believe Jesus is the preeminent spiritual person as he uniquely shows what God would be like as a human being. However, along with Jesus are spirit people like Moses, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.
I Consider Myself a Christian and I Follow Jesus But I Don't Hold to Traditional Beliefs About Either
By calling into question and offering a different perspective on each of the points discussed about Jesus, I am not only an 'unbeliever' in the eyes of many former friends and colleagues, but I am also the nasty 'H' word, a 'heretic.'
The question I'm most often asked by traditional Christians when having a conversation about how my faith has changed and become more progressive is,
"Are you claiming to be a Christian without having faith in the cross?"
I understand the question. Again, when you're taught the whole purpose of Jesus’s life is his dying a horrific death at the hands of the state. And the reason he died this horrific death is because you suck as a human being; it makes sense that the cross tends to be the only thing Christians are taught to care about.
My response is usually some iteration of what Marcus Borg shared when he was asked something similar by a college student. Because I don't have better words to offer, I'll leave you with his;
I do have faith in the cross as a trustworthy disclosure of the evil of domination systems, as the exposure of the defeat of the powers, as the revelation of the “way” or “path” of transformation, as the revelation of the depth of God’s love for us, and as the proclamation of radical grace. I have faith in the cross as all of those things. (Borg, Marcus J.. The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith (p. 116). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.)
For myself and millions of other Americans, the Jesus of Christian tradition makes too little of Jesus' exceptional humanity, too much of man’s shortcomings, gets too caught up in making everything miraculous literal, and makes God too small by insisting on Christian exclusivism. What’s changed my views of Jesus isn’t that I think less of him, but that I think so much more.
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Thanks for stopping by and reading this article! If my work has served you or you want to contribute to creating authentic faith connections, consider becoming an Authentic Faith Advocate.
Thanks for stopping by and reading this article! If my work has served you or you want to contribute to creating authentic faith connections, consider becoming an Authentic Faith Advocate.