Will the Real J.C. Please Stand Up?

I was recently reading about Thomas Jefferson in the book American Jesus. Shortly after becoming President of the United States, Jefferson ordered two copies of the Bible. He went through them in the evening with a razor blade in hand and cut out the sections that he believed accurately portrayed who Jesus was and the rest he tossed to the ground. He really liked Jesus' moral teachings so he kept all of those, but he felt that the miracles were probably added to the texts at a later time by swindlers and charlatans, so like any good editor he removed those. When he finished he had a much smaller book that he considered the true essence of Christianity.

When I first read that account I was utterly appalled. Then, I spent a little more time thinking about Jefferson and I came to the realization those of us who claim to be Christians are guilty of doing the same thing. Granted, most of us would not have the audacity to actually take our Bible and cut it up into pieces (with the exception of the Jesus Seminar). However, in a more subtle way we do have a tendency to pick and choose what scriptures we will allow into our lives and what scripture we will really take stock in. In a sense, we do edit the scripture as we read through certain passages and justify why they are impossible or don't apply to us and instead of wrestling with them we allow them to fall to the cutting room floor.

We, like Jefferson, tend to cut and mold our Bible to fit into our worldview, our political beliefs, and our lifestyle choices. It is way easier to dress Jesus up like us than it is for us to dress up like him, so without realizing it we allow ourselves to be deceived into thinking Jesus is just like us.

In reality we are called to do the opposite. A true follower of Christ allows the Bible to go through their life, and like a razor blade cut away all of the parts that do not conform to the life of Christ. You see, Jefferson had it wrong and often so do we. He tried to shape his Bible instead of letting the Bible shape him.

You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
"He did not make me"?
Can the pot say of the potter,
"He knows nothing"?
-Isaiah 29

Pagan Christianity

Pagan Christianity breaks down many of the traditions that Christians hold to and practice and explores where they came from historically. This book makes the claim that many of these traditions have been taken directly from the pagan world and it’s practices.

I appreciated the way that this book questions many of the forms that Christians have come to accept today without questioning or considering whether or not they are Biblical. In that sense this book is a good book for us to examine the forms that we use and ask if we are really serving Christ in the way he has called us to do so. This book raises some excellent questions about what we do and why we do it.

On the other hand, I do feel that this book does fall short in answering some of my questions. If the church is as far off base as the authors claim than it would seem that the “true Church” has not existed for some time. I believe that even in flawed forms the church has persevered and even if we through out all of the flawed forms that the authors raise issue with we would still end up with new flawed forms. If you are interested there is much more discussion on this book here.

The Story of WWII- Don't Forget!

I just finished reading The Story of World War II by Donald Miller (Not to be confused with the author of Blue Like Jazz). First of all, I was surprised at how the book sucked me in. I normally struggle through history books and find them somewhat tedious, but Miller had a way of writing which made it feel like a novel. Also, I normally read about 100 pages and then lose interest. However, this book kept my attention from beginning to end. The best thing about this however was the way he told the story of WWII chronologically. He went from battle to battle and it was the first time that I had a comprehensive understanding of this war from beginning to end. It was an awful event and hopefully we will never see something like it again. War did not seem glorious or fun, but it was portrayed as a necessary evil (although it may not have been necessary if some good men and women had stood up sooner and rejected evil). If you are looking for a good book and you want to have a better understanding of history, I would recommend this book.

Is Santa Claus Real???

"In his most famous exploit however, a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the poor man's plight, Nicholas decided to help him but being too modest (or too shy) to help the man in public, (or knowing the man too proud to accept charity), he went to his house under the cover of night and threw three purses filled with gold coins through the window opening onto the man's floor. One version has him throwing one purse for three consecutive nights. Another has him throw the purses over a period of three years, each time the night before one of the daughters comes "of age". Invariably the third time the father lies in waiting, trying to discover their benefactor. In one version the father confronts the saint, only to have Saint Nicholas say it is not him he should thank, but God alone. In another version, Nicholas learns of the poor man's plan and drops the third bag down the chimney instead; a variant holds that the daughter had washed her stockings that evening and hung them over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into the stocking. For his help to the poor, Nicholas is the patron saint of pawnbrokers; the three gold balls traditionally hung outside a pawnshop symbolize the three sacks of gold. People then began to suspect that he was behind a large number of other anonymous gifts to the poor, using the inheritance from his wealthy parents. After he died, people in the region continued to give to the poor anonymously, and such gifts were still often attributed to St. Nicholas." (Excerpt from Wikipedia)

Is Santa Real?
I knew that one day this question would come. Last week as I was driving Abi to kindergarten she asked me point blank. Lori and I talked about his years ago. We decided that we would not actively encourage nor discourage Santa Claus's existence, but if asked we would never lie. When Abi asked me I replied that St. Nicholas was a real person who lived a long time ago. Not only that, but he was a very generous person and he loved Jesus. Through his gifts he helped lots of people and Santa Claus helps us remember the real person of St. Nicolas and is an example for us to be generous to others. She seemed to understand and enjoy that simple explanation as she smiled and said, "Thanks Dad."

History of Religion Map

Bury My Heart

I just finished a book called Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee which chronicles how the USA treated the Native Americans as it expanded westward. It is a heart wrenching look at our history, but it is a very valuable one as we think about how different cultures treat each other around the world even today. One of the best things about this book is that is the use of primary source materials. You often hear what the Native Americans, US Soldiers, Politicians, or Commissioners of Indian Affairs are thinking in their own words through documented testimonies or journal entries. I will leave you with a few quotes:

The whites were always trying to make the Indians give up their life and live like white men-go to farming, work hard and do as they did- and the Indians did not know how to do that, and did not want to anyway…. If the Indians had tried to make the whites live like them, the whites would have resisted, and it was the same way with many Indians.

-Wamditanka (Big Eagle) of the Santee Sioux

Although wrongs have been done me I live in hopes. I have not got two hearts….Now we are together again to make peace. My shame is as big as the earth, although I will do what my friends advise me to do. I once thought that I was the only man that persevered to be the friend of the white man, but since they have come and cleaned out our lodges, horses, and everything else, it is hard for me to believe white men anymore.

-Motavato (Black Kettle) of the Southern Cheyennes

Whose voice was first sounded on this land? The voice of the red people who had but bows and arrows….What has been done in my country I did not want and did not ask for it; white people going through my country….When the white man comes in my country he leaves a trail of blood behind him….I have two mountains in that country-the Black Hills and the Big Horn Mountain. I want the Great Father (US President) to make no roads through them. I have told these things three times; now I have come here to tell them the fourth time.

-Mahpiua Luta (Red Cloud) of the Oglala Sioux

I don’t want to run over the mountains anymore; I want to make a big treaty….I will keep my word until the stones melt….God made the white man and God made the Apache, and the Apache has just as much right to the country as the white man. I want to make a treaty that will last, so that both can travel over the country and have no trouble.

-Delshay f the Tonto Apache

If it had not been for the massacre, there would have been a great many people here now; but after that massacre who could have stood it? When I made peace with Lieutenant Whitman my heart was very big and happy. The people of Tucson and San Xavier must be crazy. They acted as though they had neither heads nor hearts…they must have a thirst for our blood….These Tucson people write for the papers and tell their own story. The Apaches have no one to tell their story.

-Eskiminzin of the Aravaipa Apaches

No white person or persons shall be permitted to settle upon or occupy any portion of the territory, or without the consent of the Indians to pass through the same.

-Treaty of 1868

The Great Father told the commissioners that al the Indians had the rights in the Black Hills, and that whatever conclusion the Indians themselves should come to would be respected….I am an Indian and am looked on by the whites as a foolish man; but it must be because I follow the advice of the white man.

Shunka Witko (Fool Dog)

The whites told only one side. Told it to please themselves. Told much that is not true. Only his own best deeds, only th worst deeds of the Indians, has the white man told.

-Yellow Wolf of the Nez Perces

I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with my eyes still young. And I can see that something else died therein the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people’s dream died there. It was a beautiful dream…the nation’s hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead.

-Black Elk