Huston Smith: Christianity

Read Huston Smith from p.323

Questions:

1) What is the Christ of Faith?

What Jesus Did:
-performed miracles in quiet so as not to emphasize them or boast
-demonstration as a power of faith
-summarized by Peter: "He went about doing good" for everyone in society

What Jesus Said:
-Jesus' teachings are unique and everyone of them is found in the Old Testament or its commentary, the Talmud
-he preached of being a good person inside, and not to just have a grand outer life, but a wholesome inner life and morals. Basically being a good person deep down.
-invited people to 'see' things differently, didn't tell them what to do or believe. He promised them if they accepted the invitation their behavior would change accordingly. This new way of seeing things worked more with people's imaginations and not concrete things. So to bridge this gap, Jesus began with examples of things people were familiar with such as farming, weddings and wine. These things mattered to the everyday people, so they listened to him. Jesus identified the authority of these teachings as being within the hearts of the listeners, not in himself or in God. If the people truly believe Jesus' teachings, it is because they are already found within their own hearts.
-Jesus had many wise sayings ex: "Love your neighbor as yourself" and told many stories (parables) at the time these sayings were completely revolutionary and countered all previous beliefs
-God loves humanity, and people need to accept that love and let it flow through them to others
-to accept God's love is to show Him gratitude
-we should treat others as God treats us, with unconditional love, no matter who we are or who others are, even our enemies, we are all loved
-we should approach all difficult situations especially with enemies as not thinking of how to punish them, but think of how we can help them and aid with their need

Reputation/ Who he's perceived as:
-Jesus lived by his teachings
-strength, integrity and an unusual perfection
-he was completely selfless and never talked about himself, his concern was what people thought of God, Jesus saw himself as less than God ex: didn't want people to call him good because only God is good
-very virtuous and moral man, because of his compassion he loved others and everyone (large numbers of people) loved him
-hated hypocrisy: hid people from themselves, and injustice
-had no human ego, left his life up to the will of God
-people felt they were looking at God in human form

2) What is the End and the Beginning?
-Jesus' life ended in his crucifixion, but his teachings and beliefs didn't, this was just the beginning
-Jesus' teaching grew and grew and a group formed that carried them on throughout history.
His followers were convinced he had not truly died, but his soul carried on with them
-his disciples believe in his resurrection, but not resuscitation into the same physical body. He is visible in this state only sometimes, but usually not
-because Jesus didn't die, it showed the eternal power of goodness in the Universe
-since Jesus proved death did not harm or affect, him, he showed people there was nothing to be scared off and that goodness can prevail through anything