It occurred to me that to be a "christian" is synonymous with being a fool in the contemporary scene, particularly in the "brain belts" such as Cambridge-Boston or Palo Alto or the research triangle. Frankly, I prefer ''disciple of Christ'' to the name 'christian'. I realize that the term meant a lot to St. Paul but like so many other terms today it has become dilute---far too many come in that name who are not truly devout, who moreover do not have the "mind of Christ. There are many other terms which have lost their potency in today's public discourse---for example, 'democracy'---whatever it may have meant back in the day to the founding fathers or even Lincoln, it has become so dilute as to be meaningless. Another analogous disconnection of term and essential signification is 'war' and 'peace'. The Orwellian doublespeak that Ronald Reagan ushered in with the term 'peacekeeper' is a case in point. It reminds me of James Joyce's line in Ulysses: "Love--I mean the opposite of hate."
Well, back to the foolishness of Christ's cross. As history 'advances' and more things are 'known' (history does not advance ---progress is a belief system; and knowledge is not equivocal with amassing and manipulating information) be that as it may in worldly terms or in the mind of someone who has no indwelling of the Holy Spirit, for example, someone like Bill Gates appears to be 'smart', whereas someone who echoes Paul in saying that all earthly knowledge is indeed foolishness compared to the knowledge of Christ. Further this knowledge of Christ is of a different order than earthly knowledge or what might be called 'science'. Science asserts so-called finite certainties like 2+2=4 or E=mc2, whereas knowledge of Christ testifies to a relationship with a person best characterized by the word love.
Indeed in this climate the one who loves Christ is "dumb and dumber" getting dumber everyday compared to the world that gets "smart and smarter". This reveals a curious inversion of values---at least in the milieu where I was brought up intelligence was considered to be a good thing, a value to be sought for. However, as I go on now with new eyes that see with Christ's mind, I see that what I considered to be intelligence was not good but was a very subtle conditioning via education within my cultural milieu. To quote Dylan" "I was so much older then I'm younger than that now..." I was so much smarter then, etc...
Personally I thank God today for my growing ignorance of worldly affairs. The world powers that be that put The Holy One to death on the cross are still the same---there is nothing new under the sun! And we are still mocked for being enlightened in Christ, and the smug religious leaders and politicians, and peacekeepers go on reviling, cursing and murdering the innocent (very often in the name of Christ---but this is obviously antichrist). Everything is upside down.
The mind that was in Him, that is in me penetrates with understanding to the core of reality. It is the primary 'word' from which the material world is born (genesis). Hence to be enlightened in Christ's mind is to penetrate all understanding and grasp true knowledge. Paradoxically this enlightened grasp of truth which goes far beyond philosophy is by worldly standards 'foolishness' actually a more pithy term would be 'idiot', 'insane', or colloquially 'loser'. Yes, by this world's standards I am a loser, and so is Jesus Christ!
Consider the Beatitudes---worldy teachers and preachers cannot communicate anything meaningful about Jesus' teaching because the teaching is idiotic, backwards, stupid, insane. Parents cannot teach their children to imitate Jesus because he was uncool, stupid, demonstrated zero ability to defend himself in front of the court---and did not seek money, fame, ambition or a wife and kids. If a kid acts like Jesus in America he or she gets punished because Jesus teaching is the antithesis of American virtues, ethics and values. The term Christian Nation makes as much sense as 'peace keeper'---it is perfect double speak. To be honest a Christian nation would also lay down its life for its friends, would turn the other cheek, would never kill, etc...
The paradox that Apostle Paul reveals is that to be in Christ is loss for world but gain for the Kingdom. And the kingdom is not a purified American picnic or whatever materialistic fantasy is promulgated. The kingdom is present, yet hidden, is infra and yet beyond, timeless, neither large nor small, true, full of life---both within and without.
Well, back to the foolishness of Christ's cross. As history 'advances' and more things are 'known' (history does not advance ---progress is a belief system; and knowledge is not equivocal with amassing and manipulating information) be that as it may in worldly terms or in the mind of someone who has no indwelling of the Holy Spirit, for example, someone like Bill Gates appears to be 'smart', whereas someone who echoes Paul in saying that all earthly knowledge is indeed foolishness compared to the knowledge of Christ. Further this knowledge of Christ is of a different order than earthly knowledge or what might be called 'science'. Science asserts so-called finite certainties like 2+2=4 or E=mc2, whereas knowledge of Christ testifies to a relationship with a person best characterized by the word love.
Indeed in this climate the one who loves Christ is "dumb and dumber" getting dumber everyday compared to the world that gets "smart and smarter". This reveals a curious inversion of values---at least in the milieu where I was brought up intelligence was considered to be a good thing, a value to be sought for. However, as I go on now with new eyes that see with Christ's mind, I see that what I considered to be intelligence was not good but was a very subtle conditioning via education within my cultural milieu. To quote Dylan" "I was so much older then I'm younger than that now..." I was so much smarter then, etc...
Personally I thank God today for my growing ignorance of worldly affairs. The world powers that be that put The Holy One to death on the cross are still the same---there is nothing new under the sun! And we are still mocked for being enlightened in Christ, and the smug religious leaders and politicians, and peacekeepers go on reviling, cursing and murdering the innocent (very often in the name of Christ---but this is obviously antichrist). Everything is upside down.
The mind that was in Him, that is in me penetrates with understanding to the core of reality. It is the primary 'word' from which the material world is born (genesis). Hence to be enlightened in Christ's mind is to penetrate all understanding and grasp true knowledge. Paradoxically this enlightened grasp of truth which goes far beyond philosophy is by worldly standards 'foolishness' actually a more pithy term would be 'idiot', 'insane', or colloquially 'loser'. Yes, by this world's standards I am a loser, and so is Jesus Christ!
Consider the Beatitudes---worldy teachers and preachers cannot communicate anything meaningful about Jesus' teaching because the teaching is idiotic, backwards, stupid, insane. Parents cannot teach their children to imitate Jesus because he was uncool, stupid, demonstrated zero ability to defend himself in front of the court---and did not seek money, fame, ambition or a wife and kids. If a kid acts like Jesus in America he or she gets punished because Jesus teaching is the antithesis of American virtues, ethics and values. The term Christian Nation makes as much sense as 'peace keeper'---it is perfect double speak. To be honest a Christian nation would also lay down its life for its friends, would turn the other cheek, would never kill, etc...
The paradox that Apostle Paul reveals is that to be in Christ is loss for world but gain for the Kingdom. And the kingdom is not a purified American picnic or whatever materialistic fantasy is promulgated. The kingdom is present, yet hidden, is infra and yet beyond, timeless, neither large nor small, true, full of life---both within and without.
