ELIZABETH SMITH,
Sir, - At this time of controversy in the Church of Ireland (about the divinity of Jesus), I would like to ask a simple question. Is there, perhaps, an intrinsic difference between the Jesus of history and the Christ of Christianity?
(1) Jesus, the human person filled with the spirit of God, is known to us through the Gospels and through the church; but most deeply and significantly, he is known to us in the heart. The heart is the self at its deepest level, and the heart is our human link with God.
(2) Christ, the post-Easter figure of experience and tradition, became a divine figure in the hearts and minds of the early Christians and he was enshrined as divine in the doctrines of the early church.
So we can say that the historical Jesus is human but not divine, while Christ, as he came to be experienced in the early church, is divine but no longer human. Is this a problem? I think not. A solution could be to follow both. After all, the church has taught us to pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord, not two persons but one with two essential natures, human and divine. Jesus throws the spotlight on the human and the post-Easter Christ throws the spotlight on the divine. Jesus, in his human form, is closer to us personally. Christ, in his divine form, is experienced by all men worldwide and for all time.
No need to be upset if people claim that Jesus is not divine. They speak the truth, but not the whole truth. No need to be alarmed if people believe that Christ is divine. They also speak the truth, but not the whole truth. Take both together and we shall be nearer to the whole truth in which we all long to believe.
"The root meaning of belief is not to believe is a set of doctrines but 'to give one's heart to'." So it is not just a question of mental assent but of giving one's whole self, which involves a journey of transformation towards a lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ. "For Jesus is not simply a figure of the past, but a figure of the present.Meeting that Jesus will be like meeting Jesus again for the first time."
This quotation is from a book which has recently dropped into my lap. It came to me via the RCB library, and I notice that in the past two years it has been out only twice, (and I doubt if it is to be found in any Irish bookshop). So not many people are reading it. The book is, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by a Scandinavian-American Lutheran, Marcus Borg. May I suggest that at this time of doctrinal controversy, it is well worth reading. And one last question. Is a heresy trial really necessary? - Yours, etc.,
ELIZABETH SMITH, Castlegregory, Co Kerry.