Francois Ntone
I have always been fascinated by the Bible, which is why I have studied it more than the average Christian. I hold the Bible in great respect and its teaching has deeply impacted my attitude and behavior. However, I do not worship the Bible, but fully recognize that it was written by humans. Given that much of the Bible is not a divine monologue, but a theological interpretation of events associated with human lives, I can only consider expressions such as “The Bible is God’s Word” as figurative. I agree with the assumption that the authors wrote under divine inspiration, and that the main biblical heroes experienced God in a very real manner. But my examination of their writings leaves me no choice but to believe that their messages were often meant to address issues of their time and were colored by prevailing beliefs while they were alive. In fact, they proclaimed all along that those beliefs were to be upgraded in time with the coming of an anointed leader who would bring a new era of enlightenment.
Belief in God is an integral part of my being. This may be a direct result of my upbringing, but I must say I have never read or heard anything that could change the overwhelming feeling within me that there is a powerful being who is aware of everything I do and either approves of disapproves. My association with Christianity means that I identify this powerful being as the God of the Bible. Therefore I believe he is the God of Genesis who created the world. He is the God who revealed himself to Abraham and later to Moses. But he is also the one called God Most High by Melchizedek, as acknowledged by Abraham who worshiped with him. Melchizedek is the king and high priest of Salem, a city later known as Jerusalem, the city of the Jebusites, a city whose later king Adoni-Zedek was at war with the Israelites under Joshua. This means the God of the Bible was known to populations other than the Israelites, a fact that is acknowledged by the apostle Paul when he says:
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
Paul goes on to explain that the Gentiles can, by nature, do things required by the law because the law is written in their consciences (Romans 2:14-15). For this reason, I do not accept the idea that any religion other than Christianity is necessarily demonic as assumed by some Christians.
However, I believe the testimony of the apostles is sufficient evidence that Jesus is the anointed leader announced by the Old Testament prophets. I accept the idea that Jesus is the Son of God. I do not have to engage in any kind of Christological debate about it. I simply conclude that his life and activity on earth met the criteria provided in advance by the prophets. I do not have to fully understand the meaning of the word Logos as applied to him. Instead, I focus on the fact that by introducing the Father as the God of the Old Testament, and the Son by implication, Jesus was announcing that he was the fulfillment of the promise made by God to David regarding his offspring through the prophet Nathan: “I will be his father and he will be my son” (2 Samuel 7:14). Later prophets provided more insights into this future, anointed son of David, his divine nature and his mission:
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
If one combines messianic prophecies such as the above with Isaiah’s pronouncements about the suffering Servant of the Lord, than Jesus is the only one who fits the description. This Servant of the Lord is to be an atonement sacrifice for the sins of humanity, a concept that can be easily understood within the context of the Israelite sacrificial system, and therefore does not necessarily need to be explained with the rigor of a theologian.
It is therefore sufficient to look at the Son of God as God’s true messenger, the one who fully reveals God’s character and his expectations of mankind, which obviously implies that other revelations fall short. Acceptance of this fact would have been problematic among Jewish people who already recognized another authority, namely Moses, and among the Romans whose emperor was expected to be worshiped as divine. It is not difficult to understand why the Romans would have had to silence a message such as the one carried by Jesus. But within the Jewish context, one must assume that Jesus’ message was more than the mere continuation of Moses’ message. In fact, it went well beyond Moses’ message: it laid out the principles governing the kingdom of God in terms so radical that the average Jew could not accept them unless he could prove that he was indeed the Son of God. That proof came from his ministry, his miracles, his death and his resurrection.
Believing that Jesus is the Son of God is therefore a key element of being a Christian. Over time, Christians developed creeds such as the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed or the Athanasian Creed, in order to define what constitutes proper belief. Furthermore, the various Christian denominations differentiate themselves today based on what they see as the correctness of their beliefs and their rituals. Therefore it is necessary to point out what Jesus really meant when he demanded belief in him.
Jesus repeatedly asked the people he was healing whether they believed he had the power to heal them. In so doing, he was bringing to their attention the power associated with the one he represented, namely the Father. But the main objective of his ministry was the establishment of the kingdom of God, which required a mindset different from the prevailing one. There are rewards for those who pursue the kingdom of God, such as the healing Jesus demonstrated and the eternal life he promised. But there is also a high cost associated with the pursuit: it implies a radical change in attitude and conduct. It requires humility and a change of focus from self to other. It requires loving God above anything else, loving one’s neighbor as oneself and even loving one’s enemies. It requires continual forgiveness of others, being a peacemaker and turning the other cheek. It requires never repaying evil with evil, but being glad to suffer for doing good. It requires self-denial and self-sacrifice, and not being afraid of losing one’s life in the process. Indeed, in an evil world, those who live by these principles are vulnerable and exposed since they seek no retaliation and refuse to do evil even to save themselves. But the long term goal is a transformed world where, with God at the center, the pursuit of the common good leads to the removal of hatred, violence, suffering, fear and injustice, as intended by God (Isaiah 2:2-5, 11:6-9, 65:17-25).
In summary, there are both rewards and a cost associated with the pursuit of the kingdom of God. Jesus, who advocates that pursuit, is known both as the Son of Man and the Son of God. As the Son of Man, he demonstrated how a human who submits his will to the will of the Father will conduct himself on earth, provided proof for the resurrection of the dead announced by Daniel (Daniel 12:2-3), and introduced himself as the eschatological son of man of Daniel 7:13 who will come with the clouds of heaven. As the Son of God, he is the true image of his Father: to see him is to see the Father (John 14:9-10). To believe that he is the Son of God is to fully embrace his agenda and dedicate one’s life to the pursuit of the kingdom of God as he defined it. This is obviously not easy for humans, but Christ promised that the Holy Spirit will enter and assist those who are ready for that kind of surrender.
Christians, for 2000 years, have repeated Jesus’ words known as the Great Commission:
“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
There are two elements associated with these words: conversion of non-Christians and obedience of “everything” he commanded. Christians have been fairly diligent as far as the first element is concerned. It is the second element that has been problematic: Christ’s radical teaching has been reshaped for the convenience of those who hope to reap the benefits he promised but are not ready to accept the cost. Those Christians who opted to propagate the faith through violence and warfare had already implicitly rejected the methods advocated by Christ, and therefore Christ himself. Others decided to focus on a complacent form of Christianity that emphasizes the “proper” rituals of acceptance and the “proper” beliefs while circumventing Christ’s more radical demands. For example, while Christ completely rejected violence even for self-defense, and obviously taught that the poor were more likely than the rich to enter the kingdom of God, they turn back to the Old Testament to perpetuate the notions that God supports violence against the wicked, that wealth is a reward for righteousness and poverty is punishment for laziness and evil. They are satisfied with a world divided into “good” people who go to church on Sunday and “bad” people who are not like them. They conveniently use biblical material to emphasize differences between themselves and others. They devote themselves to increasing their material well-being, while using their military power to keep away those who might interfere with their way of life. They define themselves as Christians using one or two topics that are rather obscure in the Bible, but ignore the clear biblical calls for peace and social justice. In so doing, they impede the advance of Jesus’ kingdom of God, while at the same time proclaiming that they represent him.
I believe Christianity must renew its focus on the kingdom of God as taught by Christ. I realize that there are some Christians who maintained that focus through the 2000 years of history after Christ. However, I believe Christendom, as a whole, missed the mark somewhere along the way and must regroup. In this website, I would like to add my voice to the ones that have already been making similar arguments for some time.
