Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ Myth
The Earth is part of the solar system which in turn is part of the Milky Way galaxy. There are billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy (Sun is one of the stars). In addition, there are billions of such galaxies in our Universe alone (the visible universe is about 28 billion light years in diameter). It is possible that there are other universes. It is extremely difficult for most of us to comprehend the size and scale of our universe.
Some of us believe that there is a person or entity named God who created our universe and possibly the other universes as well. Such a person would have an incredible amount of knowledge, power and influence that would be way beyond our wildest imagination. Increasingly some of us are beginning to claim that we have a personal relationship with this entity called God.
We live in an age of knowledge explosion. Everyday new discoveries and inventions are being made that is turning our long held assumptions of who we are and our surroundings upside down. This can be very difficult times for those of us who are very religious. What science says make sense to us but we are not ready to end our relationship with religion and our gods.
There are many movements in all religions that are trying to bridge the ever widening distance between science and religion. The latest version of Christian apologetics is one such movement (Apologetics are those who try to use rational basis to defend Christianity). Ravi Zacharias and Frank Turek are two apologetics that you will see on Christian television channels frequently. I never miss an opportunity to hear them speak. Modern apologetics normally spend a lot of time talking about science and gaps in scientific theories. They enjoy playing with words in the English language like truth. Of course a speech by an apologetic will never be complete without numerous quotations from famous people. In a typical speech, quotations by famous people will outnumber quotations from the Bible. I think of Apologetics as “Christianity Lite for the intellectuals”.
Many apologetics agree with some of the fundamental theories of modern science like the theory of evolution and the big bang theory. But they disagree with the final conclusions (They will insert God at the beginning of the big bang and evolution but can never convincingly explain why this god can only be Jesus but not Buddha, Krishna, Allah or any of the other Gods). I have even met apologetics who believe in the Cambrian explosion (A rapid appearance of most of the major plant and animal kingdoms and classes that scientists believe happened about 530 million years ago).
Christian theology is almost 1800 years old. For most of this time Christians all over the world believed in the six day theory of creation and the story of Adam and Eve as mentioned in the Book of Genesis (millions of Christians all over this world still believe in the six day creation story). Why is the interpretation changing now? Is this because science has disproved the six day creation story? Book of Genesis also indicates that the Earth was created before the Sun which we now know is incorrect.
Some Apologetics believe that the “days” mentioned in Genesis actually stands for “millions of years”. So what does God mean when he says that all human beings should worship him and rest on the seventh “day”? The stories in the Bible will mean something totally different if we apply the word “millions” whenever the word “day” is used. If someone accepts the big bang theory and theory of evolution, then is that person a Christian? In reality some of these apologetics are creating a new religion that marries some aspects of Christianity and science.
Many evangelical Christians have a different way to bridge the gap between science and Christianity. They have created this concept of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Many of these individuals do not like the concept of Christianity as a religion but instead prefer to use words and phrases such as “faith” or “personal relationship” to describe what they are doing.
First thing that comes to my mind when I hear this is how can mere mortals like us have a relationship with something that we ourselves claim is beyond our knowledge and beyond time and space. If this God knows everything about our past and everything about our future then what does God have to gain from this relationship?
A relationship is a state of being connected, an involvement or an association. This sort of involvement and connection is impossible if we think of our God as the Alpha and the Omega. It might be necessary if God is the Beta!
Having a direct personal relationship with God is a concept that does not have strong Biblical foundations. Many pastors who preach such a concept indulge in some fancy interpretation of the Biblical verses. The Bible states that Jesus is the God and the scripture also tells us how god should be worshipped. The Bible also has a lot of say about what would happen to God’s creations if we do not follow his commandments. In addition God will judge us on Judgment Day and will send us to heaven or hell based on our actions (Some Eastern Orthodox Christians believe in two Judgment Days). There is very little in the Bible to indicate that between resurrection and his eventual return, God is going to communicate or have a personal relationship with his creations.
If we are in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ then we are in the “Holy Land”. This sacred place (heaven?) is the beginning and end of knowledge and of time and space. But we physically exist in the “fallen” or “sinful” world. The idea that a human being can exist in the holy and the sinful world at the same time (dualism) is a concept that does not have a lot of basis in scripture. If we can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ then the concept of Judgment becomes almost irrelevant. If God is communicating with us and giving us advice and feedback frequently then on Judgment Day he would not be just judging us but also judging himself!
The personal relationship with God concept, dualism and straddling religion and science in search of the truth like the Apologetics do is not exclusive to Christianity. Many Eastern religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism also have different variations of it. Although there are many different names and practices, in general the concept is known as Dharma. Dharma means to uphold or maintain. Dharma is the truth and also the force that maintains the universe. Many follow the path to Dharma in order to attain the absolute truth (the end of knowledge) which is Vedanta (God).
“We are told that Sin consists in acting contrary to God’s commands, but we are also told that God is omnipotent. If He is, nothing contrary to His will can occur; therefore when the sinner disobeys His commands, He must have intended this to happen” – Bertrand Russell
Related posts:
- Ravi Zacharias: Christian Missionary From India
- We Are All Atheists
- Are Minorities in India Descendants of Hindus?
- Astrology in India: From a Nation of Science to a Nation of Idiots
- Hinduism: Myth vs. Reality
Category: Culture & Religion
For any personal and sustainable relationship with Jesus Christ, one has to know him first in the grand vision of his well-documented, perfect and transfigurative death on the cross, a.k.a., our given point of change into being born again of the Spirit (John 3: 1-21).
Ephrem.
John 3:1-21 describes a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus (member of the Jewish ruling council) about the importance of being born again.
Jesus indicates that a person has to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus is skeptical and asks “How can this be?” Jesus does not answer the question but instead scolds Nicodemus (You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?). It is very clear from God’s own words that there were people who were very skeptical of his claims then as they are now!
Verses 18 and 19 clearly states who will be condemned and who will be saved: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict.” There is nothing in John 3:1-21 to indicate that Jesus wants a personal relationship with any of us. All we have to do is believe in him to be saved.
I disagree with your statement about “his well-documented, perfect and transfigurative death on the cross”. Any fair reading of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John would show the varying accounts of the crucifixion and the resurrection. In addition most Jewish people do not agree with the details of the death on the cross and the Koran (4:157) states that Allah raised Jesus up alive before crucifixion.
There is no evidence outside of scripture for these events.