d_a_r_a | Is Jesus the only way?

Many people say that he is. I'm looking into this question for the first time with an open mind, willing to accept God's truth whatever that may be. With prayer and meditation and research I know God will reveal the truth to me if I persevere. Here's one interesting sermon I've come across in my search of the web so far:
http://crestwooducc.org/sermon/reflections.htm

She seems to lean towards the answer being no. But I think a more cogent point that she makes is that we can't really know for sure and that is okay. Christianity is not supposed to be about having all the right answers and enforcing them. Christianity is about following Jesus' example, loving people, insisting on justice, being selfless, forgiving others etc. If we focused more on living like Christ and worried less about what happens when we die I think the church would have a much stronger witness to the world.

Threaded | Flat

From:

godwillnspire.livejournal.com

Look, maybe you should research one radical view at a time, okay? You don't want to get swept into something you want no part of. Don't even ask me to not be "too concerned" about you if you are going to take a questioning-of-essential-Christian-beliefs-fest. Be patient with this truth-seeking. Figure out Hell or not Hell first, than, if you must, figure out Jesus as the only way or universalism.

deep, deep love,
jake

From:

godwillnspire.livejournal.com

You make good points, which we Christians need to address. That said, Christ tells us that this world is not our home and that our citizenship lies in Heaven. He also says store up treasures in Heaven and Paul says to keep our eyes fixed on the prize (which is Heaven.) I would argue that Christians need to think more about Heaven, and less about their personal holiness and behavioral betterment. We are not going to get perfect on the Earth, but we can lead others to Christ, that they, as well as ourselves, might be eventually perfected. But you are right, our problems would be solved if we acted more like Jesus. Therefore, let us act like Jesus and devote our ambitions to evangelism!

From:

jesterstear.livejournal.com

Christianity is not supposed to be about having all the right answers and enforcing them.

Now only if people had been thinking like this during the last election.

It still amazes me how the Republicans have convinced the country that they're the party of God. Jesus was a liberal hippie. Those that killed him were the first Republicans.

From:

please-go-die.livejournal.com

The thing that always has intrigued me about the UCC is the availibility of sermons like these.

Ever thought of what Jesus would think of conservative evangelicals?

-Eugene

From:

despairfaery.livejournal.com

Well, you know where I stand on THAT :)
But we dig jesus, we are down with jesus. Following his example is a great way to live your life. Over here in the heart of the bible belt, we get yelled at and called names because we don't go to church twice a week. I wish more people WOULD follow his example around here. Religion to me is deeply personal and lately, worshiping publicly makes me sick. There's something almost vile about it. I don't know why I feel that way. I believe that one's personal relationship with their god shouldn't be flaunted or exploited. These folks seem to think as long as they attend services, blindly follow whoever their pastor may be, and bow their heads, that they are in, that's all it takes. They focus on a heaven while missing what is right in front of their faces. This place that we get to live in, I can't imagine a place more beautiful. But if there is such a place, and there is such a power as god, I really don't think you will burn for opening the mind he gave you.
We believe in one place, if you can even call it that, that everyone and everything passes to whenever they die. All the pain and joy you have inflicted on others will be realized and felt when you die, sortof an awareness. To me, that would be hell, for one who has caused nothing but harm to others and vice versa for heaven.
Wow I really rambled there. So that's my two cents!

From:

pilgrimsoul.livejournal.com

It's a question I've asked several times, and I always end up with the same answer ... I just can't believe Jesus is the *only* way. That sure rules out a whole lot of ways and a whole lot of people! I do think that following Jesus in some manner is apparently my way. And the last sentence of your post sums up my beliefs quite well. :)

From:

facetiae.livejournal.com

1. I think what struck me most is that the writer of that sermon did not refer to the Nag Hammadi text by the term "gnostic gospels." If I'm remembering correctly [we can't assume; it's been a while] that is always how I've heard them called, and they do include a Gospel According to *gasp* Mary Magdalene.

2. I think an important distinction needs to be made here, in that it is my understanding of the Christian religion that the only way to God is through Jesus. That has not changed as far as I know. What has changed over time is the concept of what that actually means, whether it is because of his sacrificial death, because of his unique relationship with God, through modeling our lives on his, or something else. But the person Jesus is a core of Christianity that has always been necessary for the path of the divine. I think you'll find some really good information in Karen Arstrong's book [A History...]. She discusses a lot of the early Christian ideas, how they evolved, and so forth. Another fairly readable book is Elaine Pagels' Gnostic Gospels. She was one of the first scholars who was allowed to study the Ng Hammadi texts, though I have to admit I don't remember much about the book. I have it at home if you can't find it an want to borrow it.

3. Yes! Yes, yes. Religion isn't created spot on, cut and dried. =) It evolves over time, changes to suite the needs of a given people in a given place at a given time. Consider that the first gospel, Mark, is typically dated at 70 AD/CE/whatever. That's 40 years after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. The others were written after that. No one really completely agreed about what Jesus' life and death meant at first. That evolved. Consider the idea of the virgin birth didn't show up until several hundred years after Jesus' death. Consider that "virgin" has different connotations in Hebrew and Greek. Consider that the Nicene Creed was not written until 325 CE. Until then, there was no "orthodox" belief, there was no "right" and "wrong," but there were many competing ideas about Jesus, God, their relationship to each other, their relationship to humans, and all the things that now Christians assume as basic tenets. Consider that even after the Nicene Creed was adopted, there was still trouble with conflicting views, leading at last to the first split between Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, and then later on into all the forms of protestantism. Isn't is a wonderfully complex and fascinating mix?!

4. I believe in reverent actions leading to communion with the divine. In other words, actions, activities, even daily tasks, when approached reverently and with a desire to commune with whatever god you believe in, can in fact become paths to that god. Perhaps that is what is meant by modeling one's life on Jesus, or following his example, or being spiritual. By keeping an open spirit, one can be surrounded and enveloped by the ineffable.

5. Have you ever read Dante's Divine Comedy? Not just the Inferno, but also the Purgatorio and the Paradisio. They're not essentially about ordering the cosmos according to type of sin and having people in the proper place, as is often assumed from only reading the Inferno. The whole of the Comedy is about a personal spiritual journey that leads through the deepest hell, then a climb through Purgatory and onward up to meet God. The poems are, of course, informed by Dante's personal religious and political beliefs, as well as the political and spiritual climate of the time. But that's true for Augustine, too, and he's pretty important to Western Christian doctrine. ;-) Anyhow, just food for thought.