Jesus' entry into Jerusalem:
Jesus' entry into Jerusalem is quite different in detail between the two stories, however the overarching theme within them is almost exactly the same. In Mark, Jesus enters Jerusalem, takes his colt, and heads straight to the temple with praise along the way by the people in the streets. This is the same as in Matt, however Matt adds a few interesting details, along with a wholly different section about how Jesus was received at the temple.
Matt's account makes a specific note on how Jesus asking for the colt fulfills a once revealed prophecy about the savior, making sure that the reader knows that Jesus is the real deal. To emphasize this point further, he adds an encounter in which one town's person asks another who the man on the colt is. The person replies enthusiastically that it is "the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee." Just driving home the point that Jesus is in some way more significant than anyone really knows yet. Then, he adds another piece to the story which Mark did not have, and that is the arrival at the Temple. In this scenario, Matt portrays Jesus as he cleanses the temple and then performs miracles, once again, seeming to focus on Jesus as a magic man or prophet than just Jesus as a man the way Mark portrays him. However, the theme of humility remains the same in both stories. By having Jesus enter on a colt, it lowers him to human status, outlining his ever important humanity. Both stories do this, however Matt likes to run with his other more divine side a bit more than Mark did.
The Crucifixion:
These two stories are almost identical, with very little variance between them. Both have Simon carrying the cross, Jesus enduring the full extent of suffering by refusing the wine. Also the charge against him reads simply King of the Jews, something used by the writers to highlight the non-criminal aspect of his crime. He then, in order to create more contrast, is placed between two robbers. After being berated by the town's folk and the guards and the two robbers, Jesus also does not come down or is not delivered from the cross. This is to illustrate that Jesus is a sacrifice. It is God's will that this happen in order to atone for man's sins, not an act of man which God is not concerned with. Both stories have the same details (minus the myrrh/gall and wine) and have the same overarching point that Jesus was a sacrifice dying for man, bearing the full brunt of suffering in the most miserable manner imaginable at that time, all at God's will.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Huston Smith: Christianity 2
1) Here, Smith is referring to Jesus' following. He means to say that Jesus' had such an impact and had endowed the Church with the Holy Spirit, therefore, even though he had died, his followers were still capable of doing good deeds and spreading the word of God.
2) The three most important tenets of Christianity, as Smith sees, them are The Incarnation, Atonement, and The Trinity.
3) People have a tendency to gravitate towards the more earthly principles in any situations, things they can identify with. This means that when told a story, it is much easier for the human brain to accept the morals and the lessons embedded within it and cast out the mythical parts as additives or ornamentation, things included simply to increase the awesomeness of the tale. That is why more people focus on the teachings of Jesus rather than the mythical aspects of the religion. This brings up the issue of almost having two religions within Christianity, one centered around the ethics of Jesus and another around the theological aspects of his life. This is the distinguishing line between the religion OF Jesus and the religion ABOUT Jesus. Jesus' personal religion was focused on having love in one's heart and doing good deeds on earth, more ethical matters than the religion created about Jesus after he died, claiming his magnificence because of the mystical, other-worldly things he was said to have done. This divide causes some controversy because of the difference in emphasis. Some say you must believe in Jesus' and his Godliness to be admitted into heaven, whereas others believe you must simply follow his moral compass.
4) Smith claims the spiritual experience to be the greatest because, as "faith's focal point is a vision of reality that sets morality in motion" one must experience these invisible feelings of greatness and love said to be found within morality in order to achieve the coveted vision of reality. Seeing as we are dealing with intangible things, it is an imperative to actually feel something towards these intangible things.
5) The Doctrine of Incarnation is the belief that Jesus was God Incarnate. He was literally all God and all Human (minus sin).
6) The assertion of Jesus' complete divinity and complete humanity was upheld because to claim one or the other or a little of both was to either (on the side of humanity) declare that his life was not normative or (on the side of divinity) separate his example from humanity, making his example not fully relevant.
7) Docetic Heresy is the notion that God merely feigned to brush with humanity, but it was really a farce. In other-words, to deny the Doctrine of Incarnation.
8) Atonement in Christianity is God reconciling the world by giving up his son. Also, it refers to a process by which a follower makes amends and redeems themselves for wrongdoings.
9) The legalistic metaphor is akin to a system of justice. Adam sinned against God, an infinite sin requiring infinite punishment. Thus God vicariously canceled the sin debt through the Person of Christ.
10) Smith refers to our bondage as the estrangement from the Divine and the confines of our egos. Christ was sent to bring us closer to God and away from ourselves. Through Christ, God accomplished his mission in awakening the souls of the earth and bringing them back to him.
11) Historically, the Jews believed wholeheartedly in the existence of God the overlord, invisible but all encompassing. Thus, when Jesus came along, believed to be God Incarnate, he was easily assigned the role of the Son (of God). The Holy Spirit arrived later with the arrival of Pentecost, but Jesus' teachings of God within the individual fortified this idea of God being the feeling of life within man. This trinity is essential because of the basis in love. If love is nothing without love returned, then God must have had others to share his relationship with, even in the beginning of his existence. Therefore, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit were together from the get-go and are in essence, the same as each other.
2) The three most important tenets of Christianity, as Smith sees, them are The Incarnation, Atonement, and The Trinity.
3) People have a tendency to gravitate towards the more earthly principles in any situations, things they can identify with. This means that when told a story, it is much easier for the human brain to accept the morals and the lessons embedded within it and cast out the mythical parts as additives or ornamentation, things included simply to increase the awesomeness of the tale. That is why more people focus on the teachings of Jesus rather than the mythical aspects of the religion. This brings up the issue of almost having two religions within Christianity, one centered around the ethics of Jesus and another around the theological aspects of his life. This is the distinguishing line between the religion OF Jesus and the religion ABOUT Jesus. Jesus' personal religion was focused on having love in one's heart and doing good deeds on earth, more ethical matters than the religion created about Jesus after he died, claiming his magnificence because of the mystical, other-worldly things he was said to have done. This divide causes some controversy because of the difference in emphasis. Some say you must believe in Jesus' and his Godliness to be admitted into heaven, whereas others believe you must simply follow his moral compass.
4) Smith claims the spiritual experience to be the greatest because, as "faith's focal point is a vision of reality that sets morality in motion" one must experience these invisible feelings of greatness and love said to be found within morality in order to achieve the coveted vision of reality. Seeing as we are dealing with intangible things, it is an imperative to actually feel something towards these intangible things.
5) The Doctrine of Incarnation is the belief that Jesus was God Incarnate. He was literally all God and all Human (minus sin).
6) The assertion of Jesus' complete divinity and complete humanity was upheld because to claim one or the other or a little of both was to either (on the side of humanity) declare that his life was not normative or (on the side of divinity) separate his example from humanity, making his example not fully relevant.
7) Docetic Heresy is the notion that God merely feigned to brush with humanity, but it was really a farce. In other-words, to deny the Doctrine of Incarnation.
8) Atonement in Christianity is God reconciling the world by giving up his son. Also, it refers to a process by which a follower makes amends and redeems themselves for wrongdoings.
9) The legalistic metaphor is akin to a system of justice. Adam sinned against God, an infinite sin requiring infinite punishment. Thus God vicariously canceled the sin debt through the Person of Christ.
10) Smith refers to our bondage as the estrangement from the Divine and the confines of our egos. Christ was sent to bring us closer to God and away from ourselves. Through Christ, God accomplished his mission in awakening the souls of the earth and bringing them back to him.
11) Historically, the Jews believed wholeheartedly in the existence of God the overlord, invisible but all encompassing. Thus, when Jesus came along, believed to be God Incarnate, he was easily assigned the role of the Son (of God). The Holy Spirit arrived later with the arrival of Pentecost, but Jesus' teachings of God within the individual fortified this idea of God being the feeling of life within man. This trinity is essential because of the basis in love. If love is nothing without love returned, then God must have had others to share his relationship with, even in the beginning of his existence. Therefore, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit were together from the get-go and are in essence, the same as each other.
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