Counting Gods

Hawkins

Good heavens! How many gods are there?  One? Two? Three? More?

In Illinois, a political science professor at Wheaton College has been suspended for her belief there is only one supreme deity.  Dr. Larycia Hawkins, who is a Christian, noted that the complaint "has primarily centered on (her) claim that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.”

Francis

What a dreadful thought.  How can anyone claim that two monotheistic religions have the same God?  Oh, no, they have separate gods because, after all, both Islam and Christianity believe in one god.  However, if they each have separate gods, there must be two deities.  Then there’s the Jewish God, Yahweh, who must be different. Throw in Satan, who has been elevated in Christianity to god-like level, and the supernatural regions are getting crowded.  Let's not forget all the Hindu gods either, but who's counting?

By the way, Hawkins has high-level support in her claim of deity solidarity.  Pope Francis, who heads the largest and oldest Christian faith, noted in a recent speech that “Jesus Christ, Jehovah, Allah. These are all names employed to describe an entity that is distinctly the same across the world. For centuries, blood has been needlessly shed because of the desire to segregate our faiths. This, however, should be the very concept which unites us as people, as nations, and as a world bound by faith. Together, we can bring about an unprecedented age of peace.  All we need to achieve such a state is respect each others' beliefs, for we are all children of God, regardless of the name we choose to address Him by… No longer shall we slaughter our neighbors over differences in reference to their God.”

In a December meeting in the Vatican with Muslim leaders, the pontiff also kissed a copy of the Koran following a lengthy Muslim prayer session.  Despite pious objections by Christian clerics in other sects, God was clearly silent on the matter.

Wheaton College

Of course, “real” Christians have been more outspoken.  That’s particularly true at Wheaton College, a private American four-year Evangelical Protestant Christian liberal arts college founded in 1860 by abolitionists.  As a side note, many of the slaves Wheaton founders wanted to free were Muslims.

A statement from the school stated, “Wheaton College faculty and staff make a commitment to accept and model our institution’s faith foundations with integrity, compassion and theological clarity. As they participate in various causes, it is essential that faculty and staff engage in and speak about public issues in ways that faithfully represent the College’s evangelical Statement of Faith.”

That statement was written in 1924 by a former college president and says, in part, “We believe in one sovereign God, eternally existing in three persons: the everlasting Father, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and the Holy Spirit, the giver of life; and we believe that God created the Heavens and the earth out of nothing by His spoken word, and for His own glory.  We believe that God has revealed Himself and His truth in the created order, in the Scriptures, and supremely in Jesus Christ; and that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writing, so that they are fully trustworthy and of supreme and final authority in all they say.”

Apparently, there’s no room for Allah in there.

Koran

However, such adamant insistence fades away in the face of history.  Islam was founded by Muhammad, who died in 632 C.E.   Once a simple herdsman who lived in Mecca, he often talked with Jewish and Christian travelers who visited his hometown.  When they spoke of their God, they used  the generic Arabic word for God, “Allah.”

The Prophet was aware that among multiple gods worshiped in Mecca was one named Allah.  He naturally assumed that was the deity that Jews and Christians recognized.  He then initiated a monotheistic faith based on the same divine personage.

Jews nor Christians in that day had no problem thinking Allah was just another name for the same God, because it was.  

Sure, methods of worship in the three largest monotheistic religions are different; the religious buildings are different as are the sacred books.  However, it’s the same God, regardless of the name.  Christians simply believe that that God manifested himself in human form under the name Jesus.  Muslims and Jews do not.  But, Christians also believe in God the Father; that’s the same God that Jews and Muslims accept as their supreme deity.

That’s not good enough for Wheaton, which is hardly alone in its misconception given the current murderous efforts of terrorists.  “While Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic, we believe there are fundamental differences between the two faiths, including what they teach about God’s revelation to humanity, the nature of God, the path to salvation, and the life of prayer,” the College statement said.

The administrators then almost comically added, “We will be in dialogue with our faculty, staff and students in the days ahead to ensure that we articulate our love for our Muslim neighbors in ways that are consistent with our distinctive theological convictions.”

Translation: we’re going to tell them they are not believers and so, by our beliefs, are condemned to our invented Hell.
Maybe it’s time to remind Wheaton and others so caught up on such small-minded theological nitpicking of something Jesus taught: “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”⁴ (Matt: 1-3)

 Then, too, there’s this from the Epistle of James: "You believe that there is one God; you do well." (2:19)

That’s all Pope Francis and Dr. Hawkins have been saying and demonstrating with their words and actions. Too bad, they are largely isolated in their open-minded approach to apparently multiple deities.

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history.  He is the author of Dummies Guide to Comparative Religion, which compares Christianity, Judaism and Islam. He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.com.  Other books he has written include  The Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols.  His books are available on Amazon.com, Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.  He can also be followed on Twitter.

Jesus Gets Face Time

Just in time for Christmas, the Associated Press released the following story about Jesus' physical appearance.

"British scientists using forensic anthropology, similar to how police solve crimes, have stitched together what they say is probably most accurate image of Jesus Christ's real face, and he's not the light-skinned figure many of us are used to seeing.

"They analyzed three skulls from archaeological dig sites and were able to figure out a possible shape of Jesus' head and facial muscles, but they were not able to accurately determine the color of his skin and hair with that.

"The discovery came after researchers evaluated drawings found in various archaeological sites in Israel. Thus the dark skin, eyes and traditional Jewish beard with short, curly hair. The latest image is a stark contrast to how He is portrayed in paintings and pictures who appears leaner with long flowing hair.

Jesus at 12?

"Earlier this year a picture re-emerged that showed what Jesus might have looked like as a kid.

"Detectives took the Turin Shroud, believed to show Jesus' image, and created a photo-fit image from the material.

"They used a computer program to reverse the aging process. After reducing his jaw size, slimming his face and softening his eyes -- a 12-year-old Jesus appeared."

The breathless report is actually new wine in old wine skin.

A biblical scholar named Johnnie Moore caused a stir two years ago when he suggested Jesus might not have been as clean looking as modern images suggest.

All right, it was a small stir.  Not enough to get coffee swirling, but interesting nevertheless.

Moore said that he really upset colleagues by suggesting Jesus might have had dysentery, which unloosens the bowels. The disease was rampant in Jesus’ day.  “The real Jesus had dirt underneath his fingernails and calluses on his hands. He probably smelled badly from sweating profusely in the Judean sun on his long hikes to Jerusalem,” Moore added.

Moore

He’s not just a small voice in the wilderness.  Moore is a campus pastor and vice president of Liberty University, an evangelical institution in Lynchburg, Virginia.  Claiming 100,000 enrolled students -- in person or electronically -- Liberty says it is the largest evangelical university in the world, and is certainly one of the largest universities in the state and in this country.  It was founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the forerunner of the Silent majority and a devout Christian.

The school reeks of piety and faith.  Students and faculty there probably didn’t take kindly to Moore's comments.

Moore, who has a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees  from Liberty, tried to tamp down uneasiness with his claims by saying that that Jesus attracted thousands of followers because he was normal.  Actually, the Bible makes it clear – and so does history – that Jesus had few followers and, in Mark, kept his messianic status a secret.  He’s so unknown that Judas has to point him out to the Roman guards.

Moore prefers to ignore that inconvenient truth.

Neave's reconstruction of Jesus

He’s also not the first to try to give Jesus a more-authentic appearance.  Back in 2002, a medieval artist from England decided to take on the face of Jesus after practicing his skill by reconstruction the faces of such people as King Midas and King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.

Richard Neave and his team came up with a swarthy man, with short hair, standing about 5’1” and weighing 110 pounds.  Not exactly, the magnificent figure in a white robe who strides across the water in multiple paintings.  After all, that image of grandeur has been engraved into our brains.  Of course, that picture is not based on a real person who lived 2000 years ago in ancient Judea.  It comes from images of a Roman god who tended sheep. 

On the other hand, Neave probably got a lot closer to reality. 

After all, no pictures of the real Jesus exist.  No one described him in the Bible.  The Apostle Paul criticized people with long hair, so it’s likely Jesus didn’t model lock locks.  However, Paul never met Jesus, so he would have no way of knowing what kind of haircut Jesus preferred.

Imagine on the Shroud of Turin

In the second century C.E., church fathers Justin Martyr and Origen – who was later branded a heretic – said that Jesus “has no form nor glory, nor beauty when we beheld him, but his appearance was without honor and inferior to that of the sons of men."

Chalk one up for dirty.

On the other hand, some “scholars” like to point to the Shroud of Turin, the supposed burial shroud of Jesus to show he was “of great beauty and uncommon statue.  He was about one meter and 80 centimeters (six feet) tall, with a perfectly proportioned physique, lithe and harmonious.” … His brain was large, too, “suggesting a person of extraordinary genius,” according to Italian professor Giovanni Judica-Cordiglia, who studied the Shroud in the 1930s.

Of course, Judica-Cordiglia had no way of knowing Carbon 14 studies done decades later proved the Shroud was created in the 1200s.  He also was unaware that brain size has little impact on intelligence.  Neanderthal brains were bigger than ours, for example, and human brains have been slowly shrinking over the last 150,000 years.

Nevertheless, Judica-Cordiglia – like so many others – prefers to see Jesus through the eyes of a believer rather than the reality of a small, scrubby Semitic man with the normal illnesses of his day.

There’s a good reason why believers would prefer the aesthetically pleasing version. If Jesus was dirty, suffered from disease and the like, then he’s not very god-like.  Of course, you could say, since he’s God, he only pretended to be dirty and ill.  Then you would be following Docetism (from Greek “to seem”), a heresy from second century Christianity and condemned by the Nicean Council in 325 C.E.

What a dilemma: Jesus looks like everyone else and therefore is nothing more than a human elevated by his followers to divinity, mimicking Roman and Greek practices of his day; or he didn’t look like everyone else and was only pretending to appear human.

Hmm. Normal person – not God.  Beautiful person – God, but not historically accurate.

Not that it matters to the faithful.  Belief will always override facts.  It’s easier to deny, whether its evolution or the reality of Jesus, than to acknowledge truth.  

This is a clear case of Moore or less.

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history.  He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net.  He is the author of the famed Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative Religion.  His books are available on Amazon.com, Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.  He can also be followed on Twitter.

You can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1

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Coach's Prayer Ignites Bruhaha

Kennedy

Joe Kennedy spent 20 years in the military before becoming an the junior varsity coach and an assistant varsity football coach for a Bremerton, Washington high school.  After each game, starting in 2008, he would pray by himself at midfield.  His players were not required to join him, but, after a while, his prayer session attracted players, other coaches and even fans.

It also drew the attention of the Bremerton School District, which first threatened to fire Kennedy for his public display of his religious beliefs. He stopped for a while and then resumed. So, the District placed him on paid administrative leave.  Kennedy’s only job with the school is as a coach.  Otherwise, he works as a “process improvement project manager” at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, according to a published report.

The district said Kennedy had to stop because it was bound by “lawful and constitutionally-required directives” about public religious displays.  The District’s attorneys say they fear Kennedy’s public prayer will open the school to a lawsuit from groups pushing to maintain strict separation of church and state.  “To summarize: While on duty for the District as an assistant coach, you may not engage in demonstrative religious activity, readily observable to (if not intended to be observed by) students and the attending public,” the letter to Kennedy read.

In response, the Liberty Institute, a Christian legal group, announced plans to sue the School District on Kennedy’s behalf.  Kennedy and his supporters insist that public school employees have a right to express their faith.

What a mishegas.(Yiddish for a real mess.)

Both sides have decent arguments.  After all, Kennedy doesn’t make prayer an obligation for his players.  Nor does the prayer actually take much time.  To onlookers, his actions resemble little more than a baseball player crossing himself before getting into the batter’s box, or a football player pointing to heaven after scoring a touchdown.

Tebow praying

Reportedly, his brief prayer contains the following sentiment:  “Lord, I thank you for these kids and the blessing you’ve given me with them. We believe in the game, we believe in competition and we can come into it as rivals and leave as brothers.”

That seems innocuous.  After all, many athletes have openly prayed, including former University of Florida star quarterback Tim Tebow.

On the other hand, Kennedy is in a leadership position.  His players see what he is doing and may feel the need to join in, just to stay on the coach’s good side.  That’s the unspoken coercion of power. 

The District is well aware of that aspect.  "While attending games may be voluntary for most students, students required to be present by virtue of their participation in football or cheerleading will necessarily suffer a degree of coercion to participate in religious activity when their coaches lead or endorse it," Bremerton School District said.

“While the district appreciates Kennedy’s many positive contributions to the BHS football program … Kennedy’s conduct poses a genuine risk that the district will be liable for violating the federal and state constitutional rights of students or others,” the letter added.

For Kennedy, the issue is obvious.  “I spent 20 years in the military fighting to defend the Constitution, and it didn’t seem right that I wasn’t allowed to say a prayer with my guys after a football game was over,” he said. “I’m standing up for what I believe is right.”

Bygone school prayer

But what is right isn’t that clear.

Public schools walk a very fine line to avoid supporting one religion over another. Private schools can do whatever they like, but schools supported by tax dollars have severe limitations.  They can provide rooms after school for groups espousing various faiths, but they can’t force people to pray to a particular deity.

That’s why the old Christmas-time assemblies, where everyone sang popular carols, have vanished.  So have celebrations of Halloween, lest conservative religious parents complain.  

In many ways, Kennedy is just another pawn in the constant warfare between religious groups determined to impose their faith on others and their counterparts equally adamant that religion has no place in public life. The courts will have to sort out this confusion. 

Kennedy initially turned down the opportunity to pray in some area away from public view.  Such accommodations are commonplace throughout this country and will probably provide a solution.  Of course, Kennedy won’t be rehired anyway.

His case will fade away, as all the others have.  On the other hand, the persistent efforts to impose Christianity will guarantee that opponents will remain vigilant even for something as seemingly innocent as a lone coach on his knee saying a silent prayer.

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history.  He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net.  He is the author of the famed Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative Religion.  His most recent book is Passover in Prison, which details abuse of Jewish inmates in American prisons.  His books are available on Amazon.com, Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.  He can also be followed on Twitter.

You can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1