By Rudy Barnes, Jr., December 22, 2108
The story of the last judgment is Matthew’s apocalyptic vision of God’s judgment (Matthew 25:31-46). It makes salvation dependent on works of mercy for the least of those among us, rather than having faith in Jesus as the Trinitarian alter ego of God. Those who ignore the least of those are condemned, and their religious beliefs don’t save them.
While the last judgment emphasized works, the last prayer of Jesus in John’s Gospel emphasized faith in the unity of all believers (John 17:20-23). John’s gospel presents Jesus as the universal Logos, or Word of God--a light that shines in the darkness (John 1:1-14). It’s ironic that the Gospel often cited to support exclusivist Christian beliefs (John 3:16 and 14:6) supports the teachings of Jesus as a universal Word of God that transcends Christianity.
The prayer of Jesus for the unity of all believers was a prayer for religious reconciliation. Jesus was the good shepherd who sought to bring together the sheep of other religious flocks (John 10:16). His prayer was not that all people be converted to a new religion later known as Christianity, but that all believers be reconciled into a universal family of God.
Exclusivist Christian beliefs that consider Jesus the only manifestation of Logos and the Trinitarian alter ego of God conflict with Jewish and Islamic beliefs that accept the teachings of Jesus as the word of God but reject his divinity. The unity of all believers has universal meaning if it is understood that Jesus is a universal Logos rather than one limited to the Christian religion.
When taken together, The last judgment and the unity of all believers debunk the idea that salvation is limited to one religion. Jesus taught that all who do the will of God are his spiritual kin (Mark 3:34); and God’s will is summarized in the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors--including those of other races and religions--as we love ourselves.
The greatest commandment is a common word of faith, taken from the Hebrew Bible, taught by Jesus and accepted by Islamic leaders. Together with the new command in John’s Gospel to love one another (John 13:34), those love commands define the faith and works of the unity of believers, and promise them a new birth in a spiritual life that will never end.
Jesus was a Jew who never promoted any religion over others, not even his own. Jesus knew that God was bigger than any religion. But Christianity and Islam have put God in a box by proselytizing exclusivist beliefs in order to become popular and powerful social institutions; and they continue to assert that their religion is the one true faith, and condemn all unbelievers.
Christian morality was corrupted by politics by Constantine in the 4th century, and the Reformation doctrine of sola fide (faith alone) made things worse by asserting that moral works are irrelevant to salvation. The nadir of Christian morality came in 2016 when white evangelical Christians ignored the moral teachings of Jesus and elected Donald Trump president.
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The Book of James describes the need to balance faith and works. James asks: What good is it, my brothers if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? ...As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. (James 2:1, 26). That is especially true in a democracy, where our political deeds affect all others, especially the least of those among us.
Most white Christians have ignored the teachings of Jesus and promoted distorted doctrines of Christian morality to support radical right politics. When they elected Donald Trump as president they sacrificed Jesus on the altar of partisan politics. In this season of Advent, Christians should seek to bring the light of God’s love into America’s increasingly dark politics.
There is no place for religions that ignore the least of those among us, or that promote religious exclusivity in a world of increasing religious diversity. But unprincipled religious and political leaders continue to exploit fear and hate through religion to promote their power. This Christmas let us seek the light of the world to dispel the darkness around us.
Related Commentary:
(1/4/15): Religion and New Beginnings: Salvation and Reconciliation in the Family of God http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/01/religion-and-new-beginnings-salvation.html
(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?
(4/5/15): Seeing the Resurrection in a New Light
(4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(4/19/15): Jesus: A Prophet, God’s Only Son, or the Logos? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/jesus-prophet-god-only-son-or-logos.html
(6/21/15): Christians Meet Muslims Today
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(10/4/15): Faith and Religion: The Same but Different
(10/11/15): Seeking, Being and Doing on Our Journey of Faith
(11/22/15): Dualism: Satan’s Evil Versus God’s Goodness
(1/2/16): God in Three Concepts
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(2/7/16): Jesus Meets Muhammad on Issues of Religion and Politics
(2/27/16): Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy in Faith, Freedom and Politics
(3/19/16): Religion, Democracy and Human Depravity
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(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
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(11/26/16): Irreconcilable Differences and the Demise of Democracy
(12/31/16): E Pluribus Unum, Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
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(4/8/17): Politics as a Religion and Religion in Politics
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(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.
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(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.
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(7/14/18): Musings on Why Christians Should Put Moral Standards Over Mystical Beliefs
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(11/17/18): Christianity and Clashing Identities in Politics and Religion
(11/24/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christianity and the Legitimacy of Democracy http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/11/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.
(12/1/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Mystical Logos
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