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Dialogues@RU is published
annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume 4
Fall 2005
Ethical Christianity: A Reformation of the Protestant Church - Page 6
By Jeffrey C. Moon
In its first-century setting, the statement "Jesus is the sacrifice for sin" had a quite different meaning. The "home" of this language, the framework within which it makes sense, is the sacrificial system centered in the temple in Jerusalem . According to the temple theology, certain kinds of sins and impurities could be dealt with only though sacrifice in the temple. Temple theology thus claimed an institutional monopoly on the forgiveness of sins; and because the forgiveness of sins was a prerequisite for entry in to the presence of God, temple theology also claimed an institutional monopoly on access to God. In this setting, to affirm "Jesus is the sacrifice for sin" was to deny the temple's claim to have a monopoly on forgiveness and access to God. It was an anti-temple statement. (94-95)
By looking at the Bible in with an objective, historical view, Borg asserts that the significance attributed by John's gospel to Jesus' death on the cross is slightly flawed. John's gospel, which has shaped Christian ritual and worship more than any other source, states that "Whoever believes in [Jesus] 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" (John 3.18). In the above quote, Borg affirms that Jesus' life was not intended to save mankind but to change the theology of Judaism. Perhaps the "scripture" is flawed because it was written fifty years after Jesus lived? However, not all of John is without value in Ethical Christianity because the teachings of Jesus in John pass the test for historical validity. As a result, they are important to Ethical Christianity, which is selective with its scripture choices. Therefore, if historical hermeneutics are respected, Christian rituals cannot have the same meaning they would if Jesus' importance to the church concerned his suffering on the cross. For this reason, baptism, confirmation, confession of sins, and the Eucharist could be removed from regular church services as rituals that distract from the more important concept of ethical living. However, for some Christians, ritual reinforces Christian teachings. For example, the recitation of the Eucharist finishes, "This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me " (Luke 22.19), and many Christians treasure time-honored church traditions (Spong 231). If these rituals must be preserved, I propose that special services should be provided for them, but not during the regular Sunday church service.
How might Ethical Christianity interpret "sacred" Christian texts? Ian McDonald raises a similar point in his article "Does Morality Change" in response to Bishop Spong's claim,
The world into which Christianity was born was limited and provincial, particularly when viewed from the perspective of the progress in knowledge and technology made over the past two millennia. This makes many ideas and beliefs formulated in 1st-century Judea totally inadequate to our progressive minds and lives today. (54)
McDonald, a Professor of Religion at University of Edinburgh, says, "Nature itself is not static. The Church therefore, cannot be static even if it wished to do so. The appeal to moral absolutes and the labeling of actions as 'intrinsically evil' are thus less than helpful for moral discernment" (216). This does not deny a place for principles, standards, and rules. Bishop Spong identifies these timeless norms: "Christian ethics in the future must be directly linked to the right to explore selfhood, to the courage to live, to love, and to be simply for the sake of living, loving, and being" (165).
Other biblical texts - besides the New Testament - have great value in Ethical Christianity. Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Psalms are wonderful demonstrations of religious wisdom. Ecclesiastes provides meaning for those who are disillusioned with the ups and downs of life, and then seek a more correct and comforting view. Proverbs is my Old Testament favorite because it contains the plainest and most applicable wisdom - the maxims of King David and Solomon are meaningful today, although they were authored three thousand years ago.