Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Transformation and transfiguration
Sunday was the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, which meant lessons on transfigurations. I began thinking about it, and I wonder if the crucifiction is a transformational moment in the life of Christ, or is the resurrection a transforming moment? I know some Christians will argue against the idea the Jesus changed while he was teaching, and other Christians will see Jesus change his ministry at certain events: The Samaritan woman, the Woman from Cana, etc. I suppose that this can be another idicator of where a Christian is on the 'Progressive-Traditional' scale.
I also began to think about the differences between transformation and transfiguration. It seems to me that the transfigurations are done for witnesses, they are not internal changes, and therefore they are things we probably should avoid. After all, we are charged to pray privately in our rooms, and not publically so everyone can see how pious we are.
One thing that I have been stuggling with lately is the whole concept of Easter. I've gone so far as to say that the crucifiction doesn't matter (since we are coming up to Lent and Gibson's 'Passion of Christ' movie is coming out tomorrow, it's been on my mind). I've begun to wonder if the resurrection doesn't matter. I know, I know, Paul states clearly that without the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth our faith is in vain.
I think I might be able to call myself a 'Zen Christian.' I've have to do a lot more research into this to know if this is truly what I mean, but I think I think about Jesus in many of the same ways that Buddhists think of the Buddha. I know Marcus Borg has published a small volume that shows the parallels of the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Buddha. This, in my opinion, shows that both Jesus and Buddha knew more about the truth than others have. I guess this also comes back to one of the basic tennants of my personal faith that the message is more important than the messenger. Jesus is Teacher before he is Savior. Is this heretical? I don't think so, but I'm also not one to cry 'heresy' all that often. Okay, I might if some Gospel reading gets used to justify something I consider to be a social crime or crime against humanity. I have to be honest about that.
So Jesus is Teacher, and if I can allow myself to look for the message over the messenger then I can hear the voice of God in more places than my Church, and I can hear it in unlikely sources: strangers, friends, people I don't like, etc.
I don't want to be transfigured, I want to be transformed, and I accept that transformation is a constant in life, not a one time only deal. That line of thinking can also undervalue Baptism, so I'll have to think about that more in the future. On a final side note (of which there are many in these posts) most statues of Moses depict him with horns on his head because of a mistranslation of 'aura' or 'halo', so many Christians through the years thought that having horns coming out of the head was a sign of divine providence. Now we see them as signs of evil. Go figure. ¶ 9:26 AM
I also began to think about the differences between transformation and transfiguration. It seems to me that the transfigurations are done for witnesses, they are not internal changes, and therefore they are things we probably should avoid. After all, we are charged to pray privately in our rooms, and not publically so everyone can see how pious we are.
One thing that I have been stuggling with lately is the whole concept of Easter. I've gone so far as to say that the crucifiction doesn't matter (since we are coming up to Lent and Gibson's 'Passion of Christ' movie is coming out tomorrow, it's been on my mind). I've begun to wonder if the resurrection doesn't matter. I know, I know, Paul states clearly that without the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth our faith is in vain.
I think I might be able to call myself a 'Zen Christian.' I've have to do a lot more research into this to know if this is truly what I mean, but I think I think about Jesus in many of the same ways that Buddhists think of the Buddha. I know Marcus Borg has published a small volume that shows the parallels of the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the Buddha. This, in my opinion, shows that both Jesus and Buddha knew more about the truth than others have. I guess this also comes back to one of the basic tennants of my personal faith that the message is more important than the messenger. Jesus is Teacher before he is Savior. Is this heretical? I don't think so, but I'm also not one to cry 'heresy' all that often. Okay, I might if some Gospel reading gets used to justify something I consider to be a social crime or crime against humanity. I have to be honest about that.
So Jesus is Teacher, and if I can allow myself to look for the message over the messenger then I can hear the voice of God in more places than my Church, and I can hear it in unlikely sources: strangers, friends, people I don't like, etc.
I don't want to be transfigured, I want to be transformed, and I accept that transformation is a constant in life, not a one time only deal. That line of thinking can also undervalue Baptism, so I'll have to think about that more in the future. On a final side note (of which there are many in these posts) most statues of Moses depict him with horns on his head because of a mistranslation of 'aura' or 'halo', so many Christians through the years thought that having horns coming out of the head was a sign of divine providence. Now we see them as signs of evil. Go figure. ¶ 9:26 AM
