By Rudy Barnes, Jr.
A new year is about new
beginnings, and for people of faith new beginnings are about repentance, reconciliation
and redemption, or salvation, as children of God. These are mystical concepts with moral
implications for our relationship with God and with other people. After giving his disciples a new command to love one another Jesus prayed for a unity of all believers. Jesus
taught that through the transforming power of God’s love and mercy we can be reconciled
and redeemed as children of God, and then reconciled with others, even those of
other faiths.
The greatest commandment is the topic of the next blog, to be followed by love over law.
On a common word of faith, see http://www.acommonword.com/.
Sin
is our separation from God’s love, and salvation liberates us from the bondage
of sin and death and reconciles us with God and each other. God’s will is to reconcile and redeem us in the
family of God; but attempts to proselytize others into exclusivist religions
can further Satan’s will, which is to divide and conquer the family of
God. Unfortunately Satan does a
wonderful imitation of God, and has done some of his best work in synagogues,
churches and mosques.
Salvation has traditionally been
based on belief in mystical doctrines and obedience to religious rules and
rituals, and Judaism, Christianity and Islam offer different perspectives of
salvation. Jews to their credit do not
proselytize, but fundamentalist Christians and Muslims do so with exclusivist
beliefs that limit salvation to believers and exclude unbelievers from the unity of all believers and the
family of God, condemning them to eternal damnation.
For Jews, the Mosaic Law of the
Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) provides a divine standard of legitimacy and
righteousness that rewards obedient Jews and punishes the disobedient in this
world, not the next. For Christians and
Muslims, God’s rewards and punishments overcome the finality of death with eternal
life in heaven/paradise or hell.
Jesus was a Jew who emphasized love over law as God’s will and the
means to salvation, with the promise of new spiritual life and peace in God’s
kingdom and the universal family of God.
The Church has distorted that message with exclusivist doctrines that
limit salvation to Christian believers, with unbelievers condemned to hell.
For Muslims the Qur’an is the
immutable word of God, and it conditions salvation on belief in the Qur’an and
obedience to its laws, doing good works and submission to God in all things
(Islam); and, as with Christians, unbelievers are condemned to eternal
damnation.
Even with their differences,
Judaism, Christianity and Islam all share the
greatest commandment to love God and neighbor as a common word of faith.
Unfortunately each religion has different ideas about what it means to
love God and neighbor, and fundamentalist Christians and Muslims do not accept unbelievers
as members of the family of God.
When asked by a Jew who was his neighbor,
Jesus told the story of the good
Samaritan in which an apostate Samaritan was a good neighbor to a wounded
Jew (Luke 10:29-37). Jesus upset Jewish
religious teachers by associating with tax collectors and prostitutes who were considered
sinners, and told sanctimonious Jewish teachers of the Law who questioned him, I came to save sinners, not the righteous
(Mark 2:15-17). Later, when told that
his mother and brother were seeking him, Jesus told a crowd, Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and
sister and mother. Jesus never
promoted any religion, not even his own; for him inclusion in the universal
family of God depended on a person’s love for others, not their religion or
family ties.
Over the years the Church has not
only advocated exclusivist beliefs but also attempted to extend its worldly
power through the Crusades and Inquisitions, and Islam has a similar history of
exclusivity and violence. The Qur’an
sends mixed messages on the family of God, appearing inclusive by referring to
Jews and Christians as People of the Book,
but also asserting that it is blasphemy to believe that Jesus was the Son of
God, and that most Jews and Christians are unbelievers. And like ancient holy warriors, modern
Jihadists believe they are instruments of God’s judgment with a divine mandate
to exterminate all unbelievers.
The teachings of Jesus point the
way to religious reconciliation and peace.
They are grounded in inclusive concepts of salvation and a universal
family of God; and even though Jesus never mentioned democracy, human rights or
the secular rule of law, he related salvation to freedom when he read from
Isaiah that God’s will was to liberate the oppressed (Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke
4:14-21). De oppresso liber links faith and freedom. It is on the crest of the US Army Special
Forces and affirms the relevance of religion to political freedom and military
legitimacy.
The concepts of salvation and the
family of God shape the relationships between Jews, Christians and
Muslims. Until those competing religions
understand salvation and the family of God in a more inclusive and universal
way there will be continuing hate and violence between them. Believers must learn to respect those of
other religions, or like the Hatfields and McCoys, they will continue their
holy family feuds with little hope of religious reconciliation and peace.
Notes
and References to Resources:
See the following references in TheTeachings of Jesus and Muhammad on Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(the J&M Book) in the Resources: On Lessons 1 and 2 on Sin, righteousness
and the family of God see Mark
2:15-17 and Mark 3:31-35 at page 17; on The new command to love one another,
see John 13:34-35 at page 325; on The farewell prayer of Jesus: the unity of
all believers, see John 17:1-26 at page 420; on The story of the good
Samaritan, see Luke 10:29-37 at page 223; on Jesus announcing his mission
to liberate the oppressed (de oppresso
liber) see Liberation at page 385.
See related blogs at Blog/Archives: Faith and Freedom, posted on December 15, 2014; see also Religion, Violence and Military Legitimacy,
posted on December 29, 2014.
The greatest commandment is the topic of the next blog, to be followed by love over law.
For those provisions in the
Qur’an on Belief, rewards and punishment
for Jews and Christians, see Appendix to the J&M Book at pages
476-485.
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