Liberal Christianity

Lesson 4: Spiritual Constructs of Reality and Society

Resurrection and Salvation

Alan Watts: "The Gospel must therefore be the communication of Jesus' own experience of Godhood. Otherwise Christians put themselves in the absurd situation of reproaching themselves for not following the example of one who had the unique advantage of being God or, at the very least, 'the Boss's son.'

It is thus that the 'saving truth' of the Gospel appears, not as Jesus' experience of Godhood, but as his punishment for proclaiming it and that sanctity in the following of Christ is chiefly measured by the degree of guiltiness felt in failing to come up to his example.

To substitute a fear of God for the fear of the world is to exchange a finite terror for one that is infinite - for the terror of everlasting damnation...But [Jesus] saw the possibility of overcoming it in his and our realization of divine sonship - that is, in mystical experience.”

Marcus Borg: "When we pray to God for something and that something - or some other thing equally beneficial occurs - many of us seem to be content that "God has spoken and answered our prayers."

There is a limitation to that in that we never really speak to God or feel God's presence only through the event itself. That leaves us to conclude that God exists in the same way we concluded that Santa exists because we wanted a bicycle and found one under the tree.

It's a false idea that God has set up a mortal circumstance where orthodoxy of belief and doctrine supported by inflexible adherence to a shallow spiritual absolute of scriptural inerrancy are paramount to eternal progression - more paramount than the idea of existence as an on-going accumulation of wisdom.

1. Those things from which we tend to hide and cower- the very things we must address in our lives -come from how we've internalized external portrayals of judgment and accountability. This is one of the fundamental temptations we constantly face internally.

a. Is this the “infinite terror” to which Watts refers? Is this not in reality a spiritual coercion or extortion that causes us to want to do the right things but for the wrong reasons? Elaborate please.

b. Some Christians have described salvation as part of a “Law of Eternal Progression.” What image(s) come to mind as you contemplate that concept?

2. One could make the case Biblically that even before Jesus was crucified his disciples already understood resurrection, having witnessed the resurrected Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration. If that were true then the resurrection itself was not what astonished and galvanized the disciples and prompted the growth of Christianity. Assume for a moment that this proposition is true.

a. What other knowledge or realization would have come to the disciples to drive their ardor?

b. Would Watts’ “infinite terror” play a role in the answer to “a” above?

3. Lifelong judgmental Christians face an immense shock at the prospect of discovering that God has always been a God of Compassion and not a God of judgmental morality. Worse, should such a discovery occur at the supposed bar of judgment when actions are up for review, they could come up against an awful knowledge of having completed mortal lives doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons.

a. Does the above statement reflect a real danger in living life with a literal mindset? Why or why not?

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