With Lent nearing its conclusion, perhaps now is the right time to share how I choose to believe Jesus. Choose… because I’ve decided that I didn’t want to believe him the way most Catholics do.
I believe in God, and I believe in Jesus, but it’s been a while since my general set of beliefs have departed from mainstream Roman Catholic or otherwise “Christian” teaching. I deliberately placed those quotes there — I do think most Christian sects today have missed and are misusing, intentionally or otherwise, Jesus’ message.
If you are Christian (and by that I mean Catholics, Protestants, and other Christian sects altogether) who is deeply religious and whose beliefs are firmly anchored in the traditional Christian Bible, I suggest you either stop reading this and move on to whatever else you are doing, or kick the word “blasphemy” out of your vocabulary. If you decide to continue reading this I just ask you to not flame me nor condemn me to hell, and just please open up your mind — even just a little.
Does it matter if Jesus was resurrected, or is indeed the Son of God?
In my opinion, no.
Jesus’ miracles, crucifixion, resurrection, and place in the kingdom of God were all meant to inspire awe in people who have suffered the pains of the death of loved ones, disease, oppression, and poverty. But all of this is for nought if we forget his teachings.
Many times people focus too much on Christ’s death on the cross, and Catholics in particular bring it to themselves to suffer in guilt for their sins, which is what Christ supposedly died for. Catholics are proclaimed to be “born sinners”, needing to be baptized for Adam and Eve’s sins which seems to be unredeemable (ironically, since the Messiah was supposed to redeem everyone from that).
Filipino Catholics are particularly guilt-ridden; we put more emphasis on Good Friday than we do on Christmas and Easter. And I believe that’s where we got it all wrong. However, I do think that the day that Christians must give more importance to is Maundy Thursday. The word “maundy” has the same origins as the word “mandate”, and the mandate Jesus made on this day (or rather, that night, wherein the last supper was held) was “love thy neighbor.”
That mandate, despite its simplicity and broadness, is the whole point of Christianity. Thrash the ten commandments and you’ll still be following all of them (perhaps except the first two) without having to be told if you follow this mandate.
Unfortunately most Christians conveniently forget this and choose to wallow on their sinfulness more.
I’ve stopped believing in the afterlife, heaven, and hell
The simple man’s motive to faith and religion is the uncertainty of the afterlife; the belief that one’s actions in this life will determine whether they are rewarded or damned after they die. Therefore the motive for doing good is simply based on fear: the fear of being thrown into the flames of hell, suffering incessantly until the end of time.
Honestly, I think that doing good deeds or behaving properly just for the sake of not going to hell is the worst possible reason to do so. If a person only stayed “good” just to stay out of hell, instead of the fact coming out of their own righteousness and good will, neither do they deserve to go to heaven.
Furthermore, this view of the afterlife encourages people to “delay” their “goodness” or merely find ways to “make up for it.” There are the self-flagellants who punish themselves for one whole day during Holy Week but proceed to commit sin the rest of the year. There are the wealthy gambling lords who “pay” for their sins by donating to the Church regularly. There are those who are active in the church, who pray the rosary and do their rituals and go to mass regularly, but who treat the people around them, particularly their employees or subordinates or any “lesser beings” like dirt.
What kind of heaven is set aside for these kinds of people?
One observation that I have taken, however, is that even here on earth there are tiny patches of heaven and hell all around us. Wherever there is hunger, fear, despair, I see hell; wherever there is fulfillment, joy, and love, I see heaven. And they all coexist in the same plane of reality.
So I try to follow a different philosophy (although I do fail many times); that is, when trying to determine whether my actions are just or proper, I try to measure whether my actions will create a tiny instance of heaven, or hell, for the people affected by my actions.
It makes a lot more sense than believing in an afterlife, and I’ve found it’s the best way to follow Christ’s mandate to love thy neighbor.
What I think Jesus meant with “Eternal Life”
Have you ever thought why people like Mahatma Ghandi, Pope John Paul II, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther King are remembered with endearment by groups of people who barely knew them? Why they are loved by people who neither met them in person or spoke with them?
They all have a common denominator, in that they all brought a message that these people needed: they were voices of hope.
Jesus, regardless of whether he’s the Son of God, or if he rose from the dead, or if he will come again, was first and foremost a messenger of hope. He brought hope to a world that had none; a world held captive by slavery, injustice, poverty, and disease. A world not very different from ours. And his message rings across all generations because it is the concern of every man. He imparted a universal message of hope, something that is difficult for any man who has felt any form of suffering to ignore.
And by this virtue, these messengers of hope all attained eternal life; the legacies of their message will ring across generations and their memory and words will never die.
So how does this play in our personal salvation? It tells us that we too must be messengers of hope to other men. We too must impart that love, and if possible, the wisdom, that will allow people to enjoy their lives together and coexist with harmony.
And if we succeed in that, and are remembered by that, in our own little way, we will attain eternal life — the presence of heaven and hell (or otherwise) notwithstanding.
11 responses so far ↓
1 r.o. // Apr 11, 2007 at 8:49 am
hmm, very, interesting, very provocative heresies here, jon. harhar
2 r.o. // Apr 11, 2007 at 8:50 am
thee are the very thoughts that inspire me to write long rebuttals.
3 r.o. // Apr 11, 2007 at 10:42 am
OT: re. your tagline, should it be maaliMpungatan?
4 Jon Limjap // Apr 11, 2007 at 10:17 pm
Hah! Heresy was a sin made up by the Popes who are threatened by “free-thinking people” who choose to ponder and question the scripture than merely accept it. If heresy means that I’m a person who chooses to think more critically, then call me a proud heretic.
I’d appreciate it if you do write those rebuttals.
As for the tagline, hmm, I never saw that spelling of the word before.
5 Andre // Apr 12, 2007 at 12:47 pm
“If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” So says Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:19. The belief in the afterlife, the eternal life, is CENTRAL in Christianity. Take it away, and you could just as effectively have taken out Christ as well.
But I agree with you that many Pinoys are guilt-oriented. Good deeds won’t get you to heaven; evil deeds won’t get you to hell. That is not the point of Christianity, at least as far as what I’ve come to learn from the Bible. It’s about having a relationship with God, and it finding fulfillment in the afterlife.
6 Jon Limjap // Apr 13, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Well, the fact that I stated that it didn’t matter to me on whether Christ was the son of God or not. (For those who may misinterpret what I said, note that I did NOT say that I believed that he was indeed a mere man) implies that I’m really questioning the whole point of Christianity here.
And my answer to that argument is contained in the Atheist’s Criticism of Pascal’s Wager:
“You should live your life and try to make the world a better place for your being in it, whether or not you believe in God. If there is no God, you have lost nothing and will be remembered fondly by those you left behind. If there is a benevolent God, he will judge you on your merits and not just on whether or not you believed in him. ”
Just for the sake of pointing it out, no I’m not an atheist.
However I do agree that it is important to have a relationship with God: but my contention is that I do not care if I get rewarded for it later or not. I don’t want anybody “inviting” me to heaven as if an adult waving a lollipop at a child.
I’ll do what is right because it is right… not because I’ll go to heaven afterwards. I’ll do what I believe is just not because I fear God, but because I believe in what I am doing.
And that’s why heaven doesn’t matter to me anymore.
7 Some guy // May 3, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Does it matter if Jesus was resurrected, or is indeed the Son of God?
I think yes..if remain dead then Jesus will be pretty much like other people. The reason he died but rose again is to conquer death and prove that he’s God. It does matter that he’s Son of God because we know where to depend when things are bad.
I’ve stopped believing in the afterlife, heaven, and hell
Read your bible. No other writer talked more about Hell than Jesus. I agree with Andre, take away beliefe in Jesus,hell and that there’s life waiting after this, you’ve just consider yourself an atheist..
Some Guy
8 Lito // May 7, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Your unselfish desire to do what is right is very commendable. This is actually an answer to what Satan’s assertion that men serve God for selfish reason (Job 1:9-11). But have you already pondered over if what you believe is right is also right in God’s viewpoint? The Bible says at Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.†Do you believe this?
Also, have you think about how would we know what is really “right†in God’s viewpoint? Is this possible?
9 Jon Limjap // May 7, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Some guy,
There’s a huge difference between an agnostic (which I think I am at this point) and an atheist. You’ll need to step out of black-and-white definitions and learn to recognize shades of gray to figure that out.
Lito,
I didn’t say that I will determine what is right and wrong by myself. All I said is that I don’t need the promise of heaven or the threat of hell to follow or live the teachings of Jesus. I follow in live it because I believe in the value of Jesus’ words, not because I fear going to hell. Perhaps I’m wondering out aloud if that is enough reason to do so.
10 Lito // May 8, 2007 at 9:52 am
Wow, that is again very commendable. First, you made God happy when doing things that is in opposite to Satan’s claim. Indeed, you provided God with an answer to Satan’s taunts (Proverbs 27:11).
Second, you do not try to determine by yourself what is right and wrong. Ang galing. You might be doing what is right in the eyes of your neighbors, but of what use is it if it is not pleasing in the eyes of God, di ba? There can be situations when you can be sincere and unselfishly trying to do what is right but at the same time not pleasing God. That is why it is really important to know God’s viewpoint in all things, just like what Proverbs 3:5,6 says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
11 Ato Kenny // Nov 12, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Very interesting exchange of “ideas.” But I like your side better, Jon. People will use the Bible to support their point in an argument as if the use of the Bible is a license to kill. The Bible is not a good place to hang your point in an argument because most, if not all, of the time the Bible will contradict itself and that is a formula for arguments and debates that never end. The threat of HELL is a Damocles Sword over our heads. It is really not there. The church put it there to keep us in “the straight and narrow.” I, myself, and me like to walk in the crooked and wide, that is, independent and far-reaching.
Lito,
I thought, all the while, that God was perfect. Why is there a need to please him? And I’ve got news for you, Lito: “God has no viewpoint.”
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