Christ the King
To say that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (the anointed one, the Messiah) even to say the Jesus Christ is s/Son of God is to say that Caesar is not.
Paul's message of being in Christ is a deeply political statement. As well as spiritual, moral, and religious.
Augustus Caesar was called "Prince of Peace", "Savior", "Son of God", "Anointed One". All of the titles used for Jesus (even High Priest) are said of Caesar.
Caesar's philosophy is built upon victory in battle then peace. Christ' message is peace from within or below if you like.
That is why you give to Caesar what is Caesar and to God what is God's. This is Christianity's way--subversion from within. [Islam the other great worldwide faith that seeks mass conversion is more from above, submission not subversion].
My own political writings on this site are to give Caesar what is his. Or rather to call Caesar to at least be an effective Caesar---security, wealth creation, enforcement of external public actions. The rest is God's. Or if one prefers, Spirit's.
A King, a messiah crucified. A human failure whose Church for 2,000 years and to this day is awash in blood, stupidity, and sin.
The word ekklesia, from which we get Church, is in its original context a group of free standing citizens. i.e. Ekklesia is a secular term. Christiantiy is a highly secula, "secular" religion if you likes.
The household of God are free standing men and women, standing free of Caesar and his ideology. Who stand free in the face of evil and hopelessness. Who are free to serve this universe as did its King and Lord.
posted by CJ Smith @ 11:16 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
JW,
The question of all questions perhaps.
There is a saying of the kingdom in Christian theology being "already but not yet." It is to live in already but not yet.
Already the eschaton is etablished, the kingdom is already here (it is not coming, is HERE) and yet it is not fulfilled. Not perfectly revealed.
So to preach hope is to preach judgment simultaneously. I find this more and more in my thinking-feeling on the matter.
Judgment of that which obscures the Real, the Reign.
The real question is whether there will be a new heaven and a new earth? Not life after death or even enlightenment in this life. I'm pretty set on all those.
The Holy on the Relative is separate and must be separated from the Profane (or else is turned into trash). On the Absolute the one is the other. Or neither exist. Neither stand out.
Always Already but not yet.
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