"Is Jesus God?"
Summer 2003 Bible Study

Chapter 7

"St. Joan of Arc Bible Study is an open and growing group that meets for fellowship and to discuss the Bible and other faith-centered literature. Our informal study group draws from biblical scholarship, historical perspectives, current events and personal reflections. We welcome honor and respect the personal ideas and spiritual journeys of all who join us."

I am sorry to say that I missed the beginning of the gathering tonight and from the sounds of it I missed plenty.

During the gathering there were concerns that we may not get through the overview again as the conversation was specifically liberating and positively charged.  The parts I witnessed were issues around the church and its seeming incapacity to change or more specifically, the hierarchy being incapable of change.  Ideas about we the church, saying enough is enough, and changing the hierarchy.  What is prevents us?  If we are the church why should we not be able to affect change with something that belongs to you and me?  Do we not have the right to self-determination?  If we don't, then, like the line of that oft-sung-SJA song goes, "Who will speak if we don't?" (imagine Bruce on the echo, "we don't")  Who will affect change if we don't? And change we must or the church as we know it will die.  Is that a bad thing? 

We discussed how, yes, we the laity, the church, change our views on many things but the hierarchy stays the same, or is it simply that they lag behind the Church by a hundred years or so?  Aren't doctrine and Encyclicals being written all the time?  So there are additions which are by definition, change. 

That is a flavor of some of the passion and you also missed much more about the divinity and or humanity of Jesus and the confrontation of our limiting/limited views of God. 

Our veteran facilitator steered the boat just enough to keep us on target while allowing important and intriguing discussion.  Here follows the overview

Is Jesus God? (Chapter 7) by M. Morwood

Morwood poses the BIG question ("Is Jesus God?") and then shortly thereafter rephrases it as: "Is Jesus God in a way that we are not?"

This rephrasing appears to have come as a result of the backlash caused by his book Tomorrow's Catholic... Morwood was queried as such by a Bishop trying to 'pin him down' on his views.  Morwood adapts this (more complete?) statement of the question throughout the chapter. 

It was suggested that Morwood had "crudely misrepresented Catholic Teaching" in the previous book.  He contends that his intent was not to weaken or subvert Christianity, but rather to make Christian Faith more relevant.

Morwood doesn't believe in a God who cut us off or removed friendship or presence from us.  Further, he believes that Jesus never believed in such a God either.

Morwood "answers" the question, I feel, in the middle of page 101: "We will continue to believe and to proclaim that this human person incarnated God as best a human person could do so, so, but we will not give him a "divine nature" which the rest of us do not possess". (Italics mine)  He goes on (pg 102) that this: "...does not necessarily subvert or diminish Christian life." and also that: "Jesus does not have to be God in a way that we are not to continue inspiring men and women to establish the Kingdom of God in our midst."

(But let's back up...) By questioning or dismissing the Jesus who was the pre-existent member of the Trinity, it is done primarily because the worldview which gave credence to that idea is a worldview that we have great difficulty accepting today. The Bishops who grilled Morwood stated that Faith is not linked to worldview.  Morwood retorts that worldview was important in Biblical times, why should it not be now? (a tautology, however)  We must ask if Jesus is important in "Fall" worldview, what relevance does He have today?   If worldview changes, should elements of Faith?

A problem occurs as Faith explanations are used as statements of Fact. Christian authority poses doctrinal formulations as articles of FACT rather than FAITH.  In doing so, it teaches a "true" or "correct" Faith.  It thereby erodes the distinction between matters of Faith vs. Fact.

Despite this new way of looking at Jesus, Morwood states that God "...remains utterly transcendent...the greatest Mystery of all, beyond our concepts...Creator,  Sustainer, Spirit of Surprises, Love, Life, Truth, Goodness, Source of all that exists." (p100)  (although I contend there are worldview problems here too!)

And Jesus remains "...the one who uniquely reveals what God is like."  We will  (Morwood says) "...joyfully call him 'divine'" and believe that the "...very same Spirit of divine Love that moved in him moves in all of us." (p101)  We can also still see Jesus as "saving", and we can continue to read our Scriptures to understand how God was perceived by people of his time.

With Jesus "still clearly and firmly at the heart of our faith vision and our spirituality, we can believe that he does not have to be God for our faith to have meaning and validity."

There are further implications, however, that Christians will no longer have the framework contending that they have the "true Faith" and the "true God". Many will be disturbed by this, but Morwood reminds us that that is O.K., and that Jesus also disturbed.

For Christian churches, (p107) this New Story "could be the movement of God's Spirit in these times."   We can now rely more on our "...spirituality and (our) exchanges with people who share (our) faith journey for affirmation, growth, and challenge."  (Which sounds like a Bible Study Group I know of!)

Thank you David