Christianity: How a Despised Sect...Came to Dominate the Roman Empire by Jonathan Hill

"The Christian religion was founded by a group of fishermen and peasants from Galilee, a rural backwater in an unimportant region of the Roman empire. They were the followers of a relatively minor wandering prophet who had died as a condemned criminal. When their movement came to the attention of the Roman authorities, it was brutally suppressed. Yet little more than three centuries later, the Christian religion had become the faith of the empire itself. Christian bishops had combined Christian theology with classical philosophy to create an intellectual and spiritual synthesis that would endure for over a thousand years, while Christian emperors were busy dismantling the ancient religion of Rome itself and supplanting it with the official teachings of a triumphant church."

I love this summary that begins the Introduction (PDF) to a book I'm thinking of getting, Christianity: How a Despised Sect...Came to Dominate the Roman Empire by Jonathan Hill. The Fortress Press link has an interview with the author. This period of development of Christianity is espcially interesting to me since my understanding of Christ takes issue with "how Christians began to construct notions of orthodoxy and heresy, and how they distinguished between them."

Arthur Zajonc, "Holding Life Consciously"

This show from Being, (formerly Speaking of Faith), is such a rich conversation that I listen to it for the "first-time" over and over from a CD I burned. I am fascinated with his description of his first college experience. While mine is not as dramatic, there is a resonance with my experience. While he responded to the wise counsel, I did not understand and act on the wisdom till fairly recently. I was looking back to see if I had already blogged about how I had so many opportunities but never grasped the understanding of the world that now appears so obvious. About a year ago, I commented on the wisdom of Buddhism and reflected on my life's journey towards understanding.

My amazement comes from what seems so obvious now. As I reflect back, I want to give thanks for the contribution that so many have made to my spiritual quest. I hope I can pass it on as my life is enriched by the practices and understandings I have gained. On of my college classes that was a month long exploration including journaling was an opportunity for me to awake. I was reminded as Arthur says of a college proffessor, "we began to talk about the larger issues that were . . . behind the resolution to fail. And as a consequence of that, a whole set of readings, literature, opened up because he had been a longtime meditator himself."

Zajonc was smart or aware enough to use this guidance to begin his college experience anew with a new attitude. As a college professor now, he makes an interesting observation, "I think we often decontextualize the knowledge that we study or teach to our students. And as a consequence, they don't see themselves how to connect it to the rest of their lives." That connection was a long time coming for me.

Science is difficult for so many Christians thinking that our knowledge of the natural world conflicts with the bible. What a fresh perspective Zajonc brings to the conversation, Goethe "consistently rejects the notion that science's task is to get in behind the theater of the senses and to look at the pulleys and counterweights..."

He's not actually advocating a spiritual worldview. What he's arguing for is a worldview which honors the human experience. But what that does is to open the door to all levels of human experiences, the levels of art, the levels of ethical choice, the levels of your very life, which is, of course, lived in this world of experience. It's not lived in a world of particles and waves; it's lived in a world of direct human experience, including even your religious and spiritual experiences.

His continues his conversation with Krista Tippet by explaining Goethe's statement that "Colors are the deeds and sufferings of light."

"So the colors come in to being through the interaction or the conflict or the meeting of light and darkness, these two large polarities that exist within our world within Goethe's imagination. When they come together then there arises color. So when you look at the red of the sunset, you're looking through the kind of darkening agent of the sky, of the atmosphere itself, towards the sun, which is a source of light. And so the light seen through that darkening medium gives us the reds and a complementary account can give you the blues."

I love his conclusion to this portion of the conversation, "Knowledge is not an object that you acquire. It's not a mechanism that somehow you provide to the human mind. It's actually an epiphanal moment. And I think this is true of the arts, poetry, painting, music, and I would say also to spiritual understanding."

I have thought lately about my "epiphanal moment" and looked for an earlier blog entry when I was searching for the link I used above to the blog entry from last January. I didn't find one but sometimes as we become aware of our surroundings, we do not have a precise answer to the question, "What time did you wake up?"

I am a bit jealous of his students as he discusses meditation in an academic setting. I hunger to read more as I love being a life-long learner. So the following is actually quite encouraging no matter what your age.

"Yeah. I mean, there's a real motive. It's not that you're importing spiritual practices willy-nilly into an academic setting. There's a rationale. Of course, students have their own either agnostic, atheistic, or religious beliefs. That's their privilege and responsibility in a certain sense. But the contemplative traditions have been extraordinarily successful it seems to me in cultivating attention, and attention is one of the most precious entities the human mind has to offer the world. If we can attend to something in a sustained way, especially in a learning context, it's much to our advantage. The other, you know, big gain is if there's emotional balance, and this is another set of practices which are common to the various traditions, that one basically creates a healthy mind. So one has both a healthy mind and an attentive mind that one brings to everything that one does is a great benefit."

Thomas Merton and Awareness (Contemplation)

I picked up this book with the transcript of a talk given by Mary Luke Tobin on Thomas Merton. Her words reminded me how much I enjoyed reading Merton and why I found his thoughts so resonate in my life. I was delighted as I read her thoughts on"Merton on Prayer: Start Where You Are" as I have been wondering if his words will still be powerful for me since I haven't read much in a long time.

This entry has been sitting around as a draft. I guess I feel the need to be a bit wordy but earlier I just decided to post as is. It got today's date as I forgotten to check when I had started it. It got me thinking about Merton and I found a delightful post introducing Merton that was highlighted on explorefaith.org.

An Experience of Being Alive

People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. That's what it's all finally about.

Joseph Campbell, Wikiquote 

Tara Brach shared this quote in her talk on Wholeheartedness.

What to make of Suffering

The existence of God seems to be more clearly linked to suffering than it every has been as I ponder the current state of my faith journey. In this morning's LA Times, there was an interesting contrast. The article, Jobs put off cancer surgery, describes a new biography for which Jobs granted more than three dozen interviews. "The book says Jobs gave up Christianity at 13 when he saw starving children on the cover of Life magazine. He asked his Sunday school pastor whether God knew what would happen with them." A very different interplay of faith is presented in the article Finding forgiveness on death row. 

The story describes a man who came to the USA from Bangladesh and although well educated in computers, was temporarily working at the counter in a gas station. A man upset by the September 11th attacks, confronted him and "had to do what his country would not." As he lay suffering from being shot in the face by this man, "He remembered what (his mother) had told him years ago. Follow the Islamic faith, and forgive those who hurt you." He continued to deal with his suffering and anger as he struggled to recover.

The shooter eventually turned to the Christian religion and looked to the man he had blinded in one eye for forgiveness. "I was completely and utterly wrong and I hope you can forgive me." The man he was asking had realized as he struggle with the damage done by the shooting, that he had already forgiven him.

While not so definitive to my faith, I have pondered from an early age about the Christian story and how it relates to the millions of people in the world. I remember reading a book around my college years that talked about suffering. While I usually remember a few key thoughts from books I remember reading, it strikes me that this book left me without a clear handle on suffering.

As described in a previous blog entry, Buddhist thought deals directly with the question of suffering. Christianity frequently relates it to Christ's suffering and many people find strength in this. Six years ago, I discovered Karen Armstrong and her quote from my blog entry says it well. 

"It doesn't really matter what you believe as long as it leads you to practical compassion. If your belief in a traditional God makes you come out imbued with a desire to feel with your fellow human beings, to make a place for them in your heart, to work to end suffering in the world, then it's good. Nobody has the last word on God, whether they're conservative or liberals."

Tara Brach: The Healing Power of Self Compassion

I was inspired this morning as I listened to The Healing Power of Self Compassion, Part 2 (03/30/2011). The main aspect was an insight into ways I react to my spouse that are not helpful to either of us. This spilled over into my thoughts about being a Christian who is so inspired by Buddhist thought and teachings. I have been a Christian my whole life but in the second half of my life I feel more contented and at peace with myself than I ever had in my life.

With Christianity, I think it has always bothered me a bit that I don't have a personal experience of God. I always felt like it could be explained away as just an emotional event. So many Christian stories are about God answering prayer and acting on our behalf; a personal God. That is one of the thing that I just can't get behind. I have a deep sense of God in the world but not a personal God that acts on my behalf. It doesn't bother me that space exploration has given God no where to hide. (As liturgist this past Sunday, I read Act 1: 9 without smirking.)

I still consider myself a Christian but one who finds so much value in the basic teachings in Buddhism. I think that I have always felt I was lacking as a Christian without a deep sense of a personal God that sends people to heaven or hell after they die. I don't have to make a leap of faith with the four noble truths. I think they have been described in the same way as scientific principles that were discovered after experimentation. You can find out their "truthiness" for yourself. Many Christian preachers emphasize the need for a the leap of faith, trust in God, and you will be rewarded. My experiment as a life long, searching Christian has not found the truth in that statement.

As I listened to Tara Brach this morning, I thought about how helpful the first Noble Truth is, "We all have s sense of unease." It is not just me, everyone experiences Dukkah. Tara then tells us to pause and without judgement, offer ourselves kindness. This is not saying it is ok when we hurt others but it is a part of being a human being.

There is this whole belief thing that each denomination explains differently on how we get "saved" and live a Christian Life. The Christianity that has attracted me has emphasized that we don't have to do anything. It always seemed like you had to believe something but listening to Marcus Borg keeps that fear in check. This seems to be the great fear in Christianity; you have to require some minimal standards of belief for those who want to be Christian. Those Christian authors who have attracted me emphasize the carrots rather than the stick: the ways that our lives are changed rather than avoiding going to hell. Many Christian are obsessed with who is going while they avoid it themselves. The popularity of the Left Behind series is evidence of the popularity of this idea.

Wasting Water

I have to admit that I can waste water as I get lost in thought in the shower in the morning. It is better for environment if I take a later shower since they are much quicker. On some days, my head just fills with all kinds of thoughts that I want to get down. Since this computer doesn't work well in the shower, I often don't get it down anywhere.

I am trying to be more mindful in the shower rather than getting lost in thought and wasting water. I think about mindfulness more than I ever have before. When I am getting upset or starting to stew about something, I try to come into the present moment. Tara Brach is so helpful and I keep playing her talks because they speak directly to me so often.

Today I had just discovered the internet site with the simple name Buddhism Teacher by the Dharma Teacher, Glenn Hughes (Mahayana Ordination name: Anagarika Vimalakirti). I like the banner on his site "A Buddhist is primarily a person in search of a satisfying life while pursuing enlightenment and practicing compassion and loving kindness." On the page about the Four Noble Truths, he has another way to interpret them:

1. Life can stink
2. Because of our ignorance,
3. But there’s a way to make it smell good.
4. Here’s how.

I remembered the four spiritual laws that I learned in the late '60s as part of the Jesus Movement. I tried them a few times but didn't like them at all, the method seemed very insensitive to the person by trying to fit them into a box. I wondered if someone has come upon the Buddhist teaching and decided Christians needed something. I don't know if anyone has researched it but for many folks it was very important that Christian teachings be unique and exclusive. The little pamplet "laws" became popular in the Jesus Movement because as Americans, we like catch phrases.

A Christian Reflects on Buddhist Teachings

I have been enjoying the podcasts of Tara Brach lately and finding a lot to reflect on. I seem to be finding that much of the what I have gained from Christian teachers, I find expressed in Buddhist teachings. I have never been comfortable with heaven and hell especially about "who" gets to go where. Christianity goes through such contortions to figure out what to do with unbaptized babies and those who have never heard "the Word." Also a division is created between "us" and "them" along with an urgent call to "save" them.


I have mentioned my concerns before in this blog such as here, here, pondered the consequences, and realized how it was changing me. I am becoming more aware of how my world view in changing. At various times, I recall encounters with understandings that are now coming to fruition. It seems I have had many opportunities to hear about and experience "presence" but I didn't get "it" until now. I have a newly found confidence without being confused about Christian teachings. I am letting go of those "beliefs" I have been taught but have never been comfortable with. I paid attention during Lutheran confirmation ("This is most certainly true.), studied new testament Greek in college, read a lot (especially in my early years after college), enjoyed Matthew Fox retreat near Yellowstone, and found an affirmative breath of fresh air in Bishop Spong and Marcus Borg. I would like to go back to books I have enjoyed, now that I have a better understanding of what it is that attracted me in books such as Thomas Merton. Here is blog post from a few years ago with the same thoughts on a day similar to today.