The apprehension that perhaps the Church has failed to transmit the mind of Jesus authentically to us in the process of proclaiming his message in writing after a gap of incubation at its beginning and later mutations in various forms for 2000 years is without foundation. We should read the Gospels in the spirit in which they were written. This means that we should not be intent on retrieving the history behind the Gospel narratives, as some Rationalists tried to do who were beaten back by Albert Schweitzer, ignoring the understanding in faith of Jesus' life , passion, death and resurrection manifested in them. The first Christians gathered together for remembering mainly the passion of Christ interpreting it in the light of Scripture (Old Testament), praying together the psalms and for breaking bread with the experience of his resurrection fresh in their minds. When it was written down , each evangelist tells the story of Jesus' life in ways specific to each of them because they were written for different communities. Besides, each of them had a distinct style and a particular point of view or theology. Like true artists, each evangelist produced a masterpiece of the mind of Jesus Christ although the Gospels were bound to be diverse in outlook and character.
As regards the beginning of the Church, in spite of the fact that the Apostles and the disciples were fundamentally transformed into new persons through the resurrection and Pentecost experiences, they did not forget their life with Jesus before his death. That is why we have the events and teachings recorded in the Gospels where the face of Christ comes out in its original form. What had changed because of their transformation was the way they looked at those very events and teachings as a result of which they were able to understand them just as Jesus understood them. In fact, one of the main concerns of Jesus was how far even his disciples, let alone the people in general, were able to correctly understand what he taught as well as the entire import of his whole life. His sole consolation was that they would properly understand them once they receive the Spirit after his death and resurrection. This is what really happened in the first christian communities when their human way of understanding things was changed into a divine way of understanding them. This means that what they projected through their preaching and teaching was exactly the mind of Jesus and not their own ideas about him. Even the 'form criticism' propounded by Rudolf Bultmann cannot contradict this view as the 'kerygma' of the believing communities was not meant to literally quote the words of Jesus ignoring their meaning and relevance to their current situations.
The second part of the apprehension about the failure of the Church in projecting the mind of Jesus always and everywhere down through the past 20 centuries is something which we have to attend to. We have the tools in our hands to redeem any such failures in as far as the Bible as the Word of God has to be the criterion of the renewal of the Church under the guidance of its teaching authority. The Church authority always seeks the guidance from the Church Fathers of the first centuries who were closer to the beginning of the Church. Besides, the biblical experts have an important role in correctly bringing out the intended meaning of the message conveyed through the Bible. The correct meaning is that which is intended by God Himself as well as the human author whereby the questions of inspiration and inerrancy play a part here. The teaching authority in the Church too is under obligation to renew itself taking guidance from the Word of God in the Bible without which its own guidance may go astray. The Church has no business of existing in this world if it is not able to reveal the mind of Jesus without any flaw.
As regards the beginning of the Church, in spite of the fact that the Apostles and the disciples were fundamentally transformed into new persons through the resurrection and Pentecost experiences, they did not forget their life with Jesus before his death. That is why we have the events and teachings recorded in the Gospels where the face of Christ comes out in its original form. What had changed because of their transformation was the way they looked at those very events and teachings as a result of which they were able to understand them just as Jesus understood them. In fact, one of the main concerns of Jesus was how far even his disciples, let alone the people in general, were able to correctly understand what he taught as well as the entire import of his whole life. His sole consolation was that they would properly understand them once they receive the Spirit after his death and resurrection. This is what really happened in the first christian communities when their human way of understanding things was changed into a divine way of understanding them. This means that what they projected through their preaching and teaching was exactly the mind of Jesus and not their own ideas about him. Even the 'form criticism' propounded by Rudolf Bultmann cannot contradict this view as the 'kerygma' of the believing communities was not meant to literally quote the words of Jesus ignoring their meaning and relevance to their current situations.
The second part of the apprehension about the failure of the Church in projecting the mind of Jesus always and everywhere down through the past 20 centuries is something which we have to attend to. We have the tools in our hands to redeem any such failures in as far as the Bible as the Word of God has to be the criterion of the renewal of the Church under the guidance of its teaching authority. The Church authority always seeks the guidance from the Church Fathers of the first centuries who were closer to the beginning of the Church. Besides, the biblical experts have an important role in correctly bringing out the intended meaning of the message conveyed through the Bible. The correct meaning is that which is intended by God Himself as well as the human author whereby the questions of inspiration and inerrancy play a part here. The teaching authority in the Church too is under obligation to renew itself taking guidance from the Word of God in the Bible without which its own guidance may go astray. The Church has no business of existing in this world if it is not able to reveal the mind of Jesus without any flaw.
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