From: Matt the Enraged Endorphin (mpkundert@students.wisc.edu)
Date: Wed Oct 16 2002 - 15:54:28 BST
The interesting thing about Jesus is that there really are two stories
going on at once. A lot of scholarly research suggests that we separate
the Historical Jesus from the Cosmic Christ. When we do that and we
contextualize what Jesus said in the Jewish debates that were going on at
the time, the Historical Jesus seems to be speaking to a Jewish crowd.
Jesus was, if anything, attempting to reform Judaism.
The Cosmic Christ, on the other hand, is something that is interpreted by
Paul. When Paul came on the scene, he entered into dialogue with the Jesus
Movement headed by James and Peter and centered in Jerusalem. These were
all Jews and the Jesus Movement was a Jewish sect. Because it was a Jewish
reform movement, James and Peter said that to follow Jesus, you must be a
Jew i.e. you must be circumcised. Paul fought for control of the Jesus
Movement and was helped when the Romans decimated those that were in
Jerusalem, so all that were really left were people on Paul's side. The
main gist is that Palestinian Jews saw Jesus as the messiah of Judaism.
Hellenized Jews, having read their Greek philosophy, began to universalize
Jesus' message and extend it to the Gentiles. In the literature this is
sometimes refered to as Jewish particularism vs. Christian universalism.
Within this framework, I think Paul can be said to be giving us better
static patterns. By extending the message of "love thy neighbor" and "turn
the other cheek" to Jews and Gentiles, Paul turned Jesus, whether he
would've agreed or not, into a cosmopolitan saint. An image that has
greatly influenced us and I hope continues to influence us.
What about Jesus himself? Well, that I think is up to each individual.
Whether the Historical Jesus really was the Cosmic Christ and had planned
to universalize his message all along is a choice that belongs to each person.
Matt
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