I stumbled upon this interview in Christianity Today. I think these types of dialogues can help us as followers of Jesus understand modern Judaism better. Although tone is really hard to read in text, I sensed some judgemental tone in Kendall. Maybe that's just me, you can "judge" for yourself. HA!
The following quote bothered me a bit though:
Kendall: Christianity is basically about a person, Jesus of Nazareth—who was, we believe, the God-man. And it isn't as much what he taught about loving one another and all of the things people say they admire about Jesus. The heart of Christianity is the person of Jesus, who he was and what he did more than what he said, although we accept what he said as true.
What do you think of this statement? So as to not bias your responses, I won't elaborate on my thoughts until I get some responses.
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2 comments:
Mike,
Unfortunately, I still haven't had the time to really sit and read this interview, but as far as the quote goes... it bothered me that he seemed to be belittling the importance of "what he taught about loving one another and all of the other things that people say they admire about Jesus." Of course who he was and what he did is important, but because of who he was shouldn't what he SAID be of extreme importance to us?! To me it is like saying that your child's teacher is important because she is the teacher, but what she is teaching your child (and what your child is learning from her) is not of nearly as much importance as the simple fact that she is your child's teacher... to me that is ridiculous! I also didn't like how he said that we "accept" what Jesus said as true... as if it is something that we have to "accept" but may not agree with whole-heartedly or something.
So, the quote bothered me also... I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
Liza, you reacted pretty much the same way I did. How can he say, "it isn't as much what he taught about loving one another"? To me, who Jesus was, is and always will be leads me to want to learn from what he taught and lived so that through the Holy Spirit, I can better follow Him by walking in His ways. To us, as followers of Jesus, He revealed to us what it looked like and meant to be truly human. That is how God intended for each of us to live. I agree that his statement minimizes Jesus. Don't get me wrong, we would be nothing without Jesus' work on the cross and His resurrection, but the Word lives on in each of us by reading, studying and acting on what Jesus taught and said. I want to give Mr. Kendall the benefit of the doubt because he may not have meant for his statement to come across the way that it did.
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