The relevance of the Bible must be understood not as an imposition of one set of ideas against any other, but as an invitation to the fullness of life offered to everyone. The whole Bible is geared to this invitation to hear the Good News (Gospel) of God's benevolence over the human race. The Good News is encapsulated in the person of Jesus Christ who made it possible for us to enjoy the fruits ensuing therefrom for which the entire human race, on its own, was incapable. What are the fruits of the Good News? Life in its fullness (John 10:10) deriving from our freedom from everything that threatens our humanity like slavery to dehumanizing conditions of life, blindness to true light, deafness to Truth itself, oppression etc. Jesus announced this good news to the poor and the oppressed by allowing them to go free and declaring the year of the Lord's favor (Luke, 4:18). Why to the poor? The human race itself is poor as it is incapable of reaping these benefits by its own effort. Who is the rich excluded from enjoying the fruits of the good news? Those who feel self-sufficient and arrogant after accumulating ill-gotten wealth or misusing power over others whereby they cannot be poor enough by being truly humble before God and their neighbors. Jesus being God Himself took the human form not only to pay our dues through his own suffering and death on the cross, but also to invite us to follow in his footsteps and this message is addressed to the entire human race. Why and how the entire human race is included here? Because to follow in the footsteps of Jesus one has to only deny self, take up one's own cross and follow him till the end (Mark, 8:34). This is the present lot of humankind whether we like it or not. Why not transform the necessary evil of suffering and humiliation to sources of new and vigorous life? Jesus has gone before us and we only have to follow him. Some people do not like following anyone and they want to chart out their own path in order to be independent. It is alright unless it is uncharted territory where we are likely to get lost. Even in our ordinary life, don't we need coaches for swimming and driving lessons whom we have to follow if we want to continue to live in this world? All the more a model and leader is necessary when it is a question of gaining life in its fullness whom we have to follow without any reservation known as belief or faith in the person.
More than an idea the Good News is concentrated in a person, Jesus Christ, whom we have to accept or reject freely. The importance of the Old Testament for Christians is that it is geared to the understanding of Jesus Christ in the context of God's revelation to the people of Israel that prepares for His entry into human history in a unique manner. The self-revelation of God in the New Testament does not negate that in the Old Testament, but rather qualitatively enhances the depth of His involvement in human history. The same may be said about other religions and their Scriptures as well as the cosmic revelation of God through nature encompassing the whole of humanity. What happened in a small corner of the world in Palestine is not meant to deny values that are ingrained in other kinds of manifestations of God from the very beginning of humankind. In fact, the Church Fathers are explicit in acknowledging the workings of the Word of God through His Spirit from the very beginning of the world.
The problem about the universal relevance of the Bible and of Jesus Christ originates from a defective understanding of the Church about herself down through the centuries. It has to do with the expression of the nature of the Church both as visible and invisible where the visible element seems to have overshadowed the legitimate rights of the invisible element. This defect has permeated Christology as well resulting in a vision of the mission of the Church clearly unacceptable to the Church herself after the second Vatican Council. The feeling of superiority breeding contempt and intolerance of others is totally alien to the spirit of Christ whom the Church represents and who is the sole reason for her existence.
More than an idea the Good News is concentrated in a person, Jesus Christ, whom we have to accept or reject freely. The importance of the Old Testament for Christians is that it is geared to the understanding of Jesus Christ in the context of God's revelation to the people of Israel that prepares for His entry into human history in a unique manner. The self-revelation of God in the New Testament does not negate that in the Old Testament, but rather qualitatively enhances the depth of His involvement in human history. The same may be said about other religions and their Scriptures as well as the cosmic revelation of God through nature encompassing the whole of humanity. What happened in a small corner of the world in Palestine is not meant to deny values that are ingrained in other kinds of manifestations of God from the very beginning of humankind. In fact, the Church Fathers are explicit in acknowledging the workings of the Word of God through His Spirit from the very beginning of the world.
The problem about the universal relevance of the Bible and of Jesus Christ originates from a defective understanding of the Church about herself down through the centuries. It has to do with the expression of the nature of the Church both as visible and invisible where the visible element seems to have overshadowed the legitimate rights of the invisible element. This defect has permeated Christology as well resulting in a vision of the mission of the Church clearly unacceptable to the Church herself after the second Vatican Council. The feeling of superiority breeding contempt and intolerance of others is totally alien to the spirit of Christ whom the Church represents and who is the sole reason for her existence.
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