GOD’S INTERACTION WITH THE WORLD – XI
On Christmas we celebrate the Incarnation. This doctrine points to our belief as Christians that God actually lived a human life in the human being Jesus.
The early Christians had their mind bending experiences, that in the experience of the risen Jesus, they were actually in contact with God.
These early Jewish Christians could not accept that there was more than one God. They also could not deny their mystical experiences. How could they honor both? There was no way that reason could express this in a completely logical way.
Then gradually over several centuries gave rise to the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity and the Incarnation. These doctrines gave some limited understanding of the mysteries. They also made it possible to pass on (within the limited capacity of human concepts and words) the mystical experiences of the early Christians. It further set some boundaries on the future reflections on these mysteries, by the church, as it passed through time and various lands and cultures.
A way of expressing this paradox is to say that God is truly God and remains God, Jesus is truly human and remains human. At the same time God is truly in Jesus.
This would seem to say in the deepest way (there are other ways) that God is transcendent and immanent. That is, God is other than us, but also in us. God is other than the world, but also in the world. As Christians we believe that presence of God in Jesus is special. More next time…..
Smile, God Loves You
Father Clay
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