Things I Think About - Heretic Jesus
I was actually hoping to post on this topic a little closer to Easter, but the timing didn't quite work out as planned. Instead, I've found myself in debates on line regarding interpretation of scripture. Most scripture debates tend to be rather cut and dried interpretations of very old words.
But today, I wanna do something else.
As a Theatre Major in college, one of my very favorite activities is analyzing theatrical texts. It's a slightly different approach than I learned in my English Minor, as instead of looking for social/author/time period context, your goal is to take the words on the written page and flush them out into a three-dimensional person/location/situation.
Don't get me wrong, I've certainly studied the Bible from the more theological and historical perspective. But when it comes to the person of Jesus, there are so many gaps in the story.
What we know about Jesus's life:
We know stories about his birth, ranging from the newborn to 2 year old range. We also know that due to Herod's killing of all Jewish male babies at that time, Jesus and his family fled to Egypt for a number of years when he was quite young.
Around 13 years old, there is a story of Jesus in the temple speaking to religious leaders about the interpretation of scripture. This is notable mostly because he engaged with the text from new and enlightening perspectives and was praised by those same religious leaders.
The next stage in his story is Jesus at 30 years old beginning his ministry and teachings in Israel through to his death.
Now, if you ask me, Jesus's life has been stripped down to a skeleton of his actual story as a person who walked this planet. In fact, we know very little about his personal life and developmental stages.
But if I were to look at the information about Jesus like a theatrical text, there are so many additional ways to start thinking about his character.
First of all, as a child, he was a transplant in a foreign country. This is a mind-expanding process. At the very least, you learn that all the rules in one place don't match all the rules in another place. Rather than having a fixed norm in his life, he experienced the world and culture from a far more open and variable perspective.
Beyond this, as much as christians now laud and universally defend the idea of virgin birth, I'm guessing that was absolutely NOT the case during Jesus's actual lifetime. No matter what folks believe now, I guarantee that there were people in his life, especially during his youth, that thought of him and treated him as a bastard.
When you think about that combination of being in a foreign country and technically qualifying as an "illegitimate" child, there is a level on which Jesus was forced to think of himself as an outsider. No matter how holy he may be considered by some today, during his lifetime and his childhood, I guarantee you he was looked down on or dismissed by many.
The story of him as a 13 year old reinforces the idea that he was a thoughtful person with a much more open and unusual perspective of both faith and the world.
Then, HUGE GAP. There are 17 years completely blank between the ages of 13 and 30. And if you ask me, I'd be most interested in finding out more about his 20s. How did Jesus, the young adult, engage with the world? We know he's a carpenter/the son of a carpenter. Did he focus much time on that sort of work? Did he take a few years and tour the world? Also, how is it possible that he didn't marry young or at all? Especially since history tells us that people used to get married at a much younger age than they do today. So much information on Jesus the person is lost during those years.
When I discovered that the New Testament books and content were decided on by the early church (think 300 AD, a couple hundred years after the guy died), I started to wonder what those male church elders decided to leave out of his story. Was there once even more information about his life that was simply edited out to suit church agenda of the time? Then I started rereading the gospels for clues.
One of the realizations I had about Jesus's teachings is that he constantly refers to ALL of humanity as "children of god", and rarely speaks of it in terms of he is god's "one and only" son. He refers to god as his father (which is extra interesting given the context of him being socially considered a bastard by many), but he never does it in an exclusive manner. The love he claims and exhibits is constantly being shared with all.
Think about that. Jesus is not an exclusivist. He doesn't preach about a special "members only" club. He says this love of god is available to all as long as we are willing to work for it.
But back to my "son of god" series of thoughts. While there are people around him who identify Jesus as god's one and only son, Jesus never actually reaffirms this, but broadens the topic to be inclusive to all. In fact, when people bring the idea directly to him, his response is constantly CAGEY.
During his trial just prior to his crucifixion, he is asked point blank in a puppet court whether or not he is "Jesus, the king of the Jews". His response isn't, "yep, that's me!". His response is "It is as you say." What a clever response! He both acknowledges that he's the guy they're referring to without saying, "yes, I am an important leader surrounded by authority and glory." It's the most beautiful way of saying, "yeah, that's the story going around."
But this isn't his only major moment of using rhetoric to his advantage. The story my mom always liked to point to in order to show Jesus's divinity, is the part where Peter says to him "thou art the christ, the son of the living god." Jesus responds with "surely god has revealed this to you." My mom always taught me that he was acknowledging the truth in Peter's claim. However, when I really started studying rhetoric, I realized what a skeptical answer Jesus actually gave. Another way of interpreting those words is "huh, interesting, did god tell you that?"
This series of thoughts led me to the realization that so very little of what Jesus actually said was black and white. He didn't make rules to follow, he talked about the principles of being a good and loving person. He told stories of hated people groups and then asked who behaved in the most god-like/goodly manner.
On some level, you can view Jesus's entire ministry as an effort to get rid of hard and fast rules and to start viewing everyone as the loved creation of god. It actually makes me rather sad to realize that rather than looking at the EXAMPLE set by Jesus's very life, the religion itself has simply developed more rules and judgments, and they turned his death into a religious ritual.
In fact, I've been in a series of conversations recently about how christianity has created a system that values the unborn and the afterlife even more than the people who are living and breathing here and now. I guess it's unsurprising that they've done the same to their "son of god." They ignore what he actually taught, and focus instead on the magic of resurrection.
The biggest thing to remember about Jesus's ministry in his 30s is that he publicly debated religious leaders, criticizing their behavior, fucked up priorities, self-importance and treatment of others. In contrast, Jesus himself was criticized for HANGING OUT WITH PROSTITUTES AND SINNERS. Think about that for a moment. Who was Jesus mad at? Religious leaders for being hypocrites and getting it wrong. Who was he friends with? Everyone, especially the downcast in society. Now that's an example to live by.
And while many folks who follow the rules and rituals of christianity may consider these thoughts blasphemous, I have yet to address the thought that would get me kicked out of most churches.
Along with the church tradition of believing in the virgin birth is also the belief that Jesus himself was "virginal". Thing is, Jesus never directly addressed sexuality. Paul was the New Testament individual who linked celibacy to godliness, not Jesus.
In fact, I suspect Paul is in the NT because when the church elders voted on the books of the Bible, he was the one who espoused views of the patriarchy and sexual repression that reinforced cultural rule and control. At least, some of the books of "Paul" preach these ideas. It is currently in much debate as to whether the letters of Paul are all one author, and which books are legitimate. I like some of Paul's verses, but others make me furious. Thing is, once I realized that Paul's words and Jesus's words were two VERY different things, I just stopped paying much attention to Paul.
I spent a good deal of time in my early 20s trying to understand what Jesus actually had to say about sexuality. The answer is, he says little to nothing on that topic and talks instead about how we should be treating each other. Interesting.
But I still questioned why he never married and whether his celibacy indicated a healthy way of being. It was a gay person who opened up my thinking on this topic.
What they pointed out to me was that there is one disciple that Jesus seemed particularly attached to. In fact, the gospel of John reuses a very specific phrase. In that gospel they refer to one of Jesus's twelve disciples as "the disciple that Jesus loved."
Christians gloss over this idea, and will likely talk instead about the many different forms of love - agape, romantic, etc.... And I have to admit, even after this thought was first introduced to me, I myself was resistant to the idea that Jesus was gay.
I've always been curious to do more research on the idea that John was "the disciple that Jesus loved," but I never really got around to counting the references, etc. For me, what cemented this idea and belief into my head was the realization that AS JESUS WAS DYING ON THE CROSS, he asked John TO TAKE CARE OF HIS MOTHER. I don't know about you, but I would only make that request of someone I LOVED LIKE FAMILY.
Sure, there is absolutely no way I can prove this idea, and I even suspect that the church fathers who decided on the books of the New Testament were eager to downplay that aspect of Jesus's life. That said, would more information on Jesus's 20s somehow magically appear in the world, I would be thoroughly unsurprised to learn that Jesus was gay.
I can't imagine the man Jesus without a loved one in his life. It seems convenient to me that any information on that topic has been edited out of the text. But as a theatre nerd, there was a man that Jesus loved and he asked him to take care of his mother. I can't think of a single other way to interpret his character, as a three dimensional text of a real human being.
Here's to all heretics that choose to love the world around them. I really do believe Jesus showed and LIVED the way to a happier, healthier good.
But today, I wanna do something else.
As a Theatre Major in college, one of my very favorite activities is analyzing theatrical texts. It's a slightly different approach than I learned in my English Minor, as instead of looking for social/author/time period context, your goal is to take the words on the written page and flush them out into a three-dimensional person/location/situation.
Don't get me wrong, I've certainly studied the Bible from the more theological and historical perspective. But when it comes to the person of Jesus, there are so many gaps in the story.
What we know about Jesus's life:
We know stories about his birth, ranging from the newborn to 2 year old range. We also know that due to Herod's killing of all Jewish male babies at that time, Jesus and his family fled to Egypt for a number of years when he was quite young.
Around 13 years old, there is a story of Jesus in the temple speaking to religious leaders about the interpretation of scripture. This is notable mostly because he engaged with the text from new and enlightening perspectives and was praised by those same religious leaders.
The next stage in his story is Jesus at 30 years old beginning his ministry and teachings in Israel through to his death.
Now, if you ask me, Jesus's life has been stripped down to a skeleton of his actual story as a person who walked this planet. In fact, we know very little about his personal life and developmental stages.
But if I were to look at the information about Jesus like a theatrical text, there are so many additional ways to start thinking about his character.
First of all, as a child, he was a transplant in a foreign country. This is a mind-expanding process. At the very least, you learn that all the rules in one place don't match all the rules in another place. Rather than having a fixed norm in his life, he experienced the world and culture from a far more open and variable perspective.
Beyond this, as much as christians now laud and universally defend the idea of virgin birth, I'm guessing that was absolutely NOT the case during Jesus's actual lifetime. No matter what folks believe now, I guarantee that there were people in his life, especially during his youth, that thought of him and treated him as a bastard.
When you think about that combination of being in a foreign country and technically qualifying as an "illegitimate" child, there is a level on which Jesus was forced to think of himself as an outsider. No matter how holy he may be considered by some today, during his lifetime and his childhood, I guarantee you he was looked down on or dismissed by many.
The story of him as a 13 year old reinforces the idea that he was a thoughtful person with a much more open and unusual perspective of both faith and the world.
Then, HUGE GAP. There are 17 years completely blank between the ages of 13 and 30. And if you ask me, I'd be most interested in finding out more about his 20s. How did Jesus, the young adult, engage with the world? We know he's a carpenter/the son of a carpenter. Did he focus much time on that sort of work? Did he take a few years and tour the world? Also, how is it possible that he didn't marry young or at all? Especially since history tells us that people used to get married at a much younger age than they do today. So much information on Jesus the person is lost during those years.
When I discovered that the New Testament books and content were decided on by the early church (think 300 AD, a couple hundred years after the guy died), I started to wonder what those male church elders decided to leave out of his story. Was there once even more information about his life that was simply edited out to suit church agenda of the time? Then I started rereading the gospels for clues.
One of the realizations I had about Jesus's teachings is that he constantly refers to ALL of humanity as "children of god", and rarely speaks of it in terms of he is god's "one and only" son. He refers to god as his father (which is extra interesting given the context of him being socially considered a bastard by many), but he never does it in an exclusive manner. The love he claims and exhibits is constantly being shared with all.
Think about that. Jesus is not an exclusivist. He doesn't preach about a special "members only" club. He says this love of god is available to all as long as we are willing to work for it.
But back to my "son of god" series of thoughts. While there are people around him who identify Jesus as god's one and only son, Jesus never actually reaffirms this, but broadens the topic to be inclusive to all. In fact, when people bring the idea directly to him, his response is constantly CAGEY.
During his trial just prior to his crucifixion, he is asked point blank in a puppet court whether or not he is "Jesus, the king of the Jews". His response isn't, "yep, that's me!". His response is "It is as you say." What a clever response! He both acknowledges that he's the guy they're referring to without saying, "yes, I am an important leader surrounded by authority and glory." It's the most beautiful way of saying, "yeah, that's the story going around."
But this isn't his only major moment of using rhetoric to his advantage. The story my mom always liked to point to in order to show Jesus's divinity, is the part where Peter says to him "thou art the christ, the son of the living god." Jesus responds with "surely god has revealed this to you." My mom always taught me that he was acknowledging the truth in Peter's claim. However, when I really started studying rhetoric, I realized what a skeptical answer Jesus actually gave. Another way of interpreting those words is "huh, interesting, did god tell you that?"
This series of thoughts led me to the realization that so very little of what Jesus actually said was black and white. He didn't make rules to follow, he talked about the principles of being a good and loving person. He told stories of hated people groups and then asked who behaved in the most god-like/goodly manner.
On some level, you can view Jesus's entire ministry as an effort to get rid of hard and fast rules and to start viewing everyone as the loved creation of god. It actually makes me rather sad to realize that rather than looking at the EXAMPLE set by Jesus's very life, the religion itself has simply developed more rules and judgments, and they turned his death into a religious ritual.
In fact, I've been in a series of conversations recently about how christianity has created a system that values the unborn and the afterlife even more than the people who are living and breathing here and now. I guess it's unsurprising that they've done the same to their "son of god." They ignore what he actually taught, and focus instead on the magic of resurrection.
The biggest thing to remember about Jesus's ministry in his 30s is that he publicly debated religious leaders, criticizing their behavior, fucked up priorities, self-importance and treatment of others. In contrast, Jesus himself was criticized for HANGING OUT WITH PROSTITUTES AND SINNERS. Think about that for a moment. Who was Jesus mad at? Religious leaders for being hypocrites and getting it wrong. Who was he friends with? Everyone, especially the downcast in society. Now that's an example to live by.
And while many folks who follow the rules and rituals of christianity may consider these thoughts blasphemous, I have yet to address the thought that would get me kicked out of most churches.
Along with the church tradition of believing in the virgin birth is also the belief that Jesus himself was "virginal". Thing is, Jesus never directly addressed sexuality. Paul was the New Testament individual who linked celibacy to godliness, not Jesus.
In fact, I suspect Paul is in the NT because when the church elders voted on the books of the Bible, he was the one who espoused views of the patriarchy and sexual repression that reinforced cultural rule and control. At least, some of the books of "Paul" preach these ideas. It is currently in much debate as to whether the letters of Paul are all one author, and which books are legitimate. I like some of Paul's verses, but others make me furious. Thing is, once I realized that Paul's words and Jesus's words were two VERY different things, I just stopped paying much attention to Paul.
I spent a good deal of time in my early 20s trying to understand what Jesus actually had to say about sexuality. The answer is, he says little to nothing on that topic and talks instead about how we should be treating each other. Interesting.
But I still questioned why he never married and whether his celibacy indicated a healthy way of being. It was a gay person who opened up my thinking on this topic.
What they pointed out to me was that there is one disciple that Jesus seemed particularly attached to. In fact, the gospel of John reuses a very specific phrase. In that gospel they refer to one of Jesus's twelve disciples as "the disciple that Jesus loved."
Christians gloss over this idea, and will likely talk instead about the many different forms of love - agape, romantic, etc.... And I have to admit, even after this thought was first introduced to me, I myself was resistant to the idea that Jesus was gay.
I've always been curious to do more research on the idea that John was "the disciple that Jesus loved," but I never really got around to counting the references, etc. For me, what cemented this idea and belief into my head was the realization that AS JESUS WAS DYING ON THE CROSS, he asked John TO TAKE CARE OF HIS MOTHER. I don't know about you, but I would only make that request of someone I LOVED LIKE FAMILY.
Sure, there is absolutely no way I can prove this idea, and I even suspect that the church fathers who decided on the books of the New Testament were eager to downplay that aspect of Jesus's life. That said, would more information on Jesus's 20s somehow magically appear in the world, I would be thoroughly unsurprised to learn that Jesus was gay.
I can't imagine the man Jesus without a loved one in his life. It seems convenient to me that any information on that topic has been edited out of the text. But as a theatre nerd, there was a man that Jesus loved and he asked him to take care of his mother. I can't think of a single other way to interpret his character, as a three dimensional text of a real human being.
Here's to all heretics that choose to love the world around them. I really do believe Jesus showed and LIVED the way to a happier, healthier good.