God Was In Christ

This essay will serve as a foundation for a subsequent essay entitled "Is There Truth Outside the Bible?"  In the present essay, I would invite you, the reader, to engage in the matter of God's reconciling acts with humankind.  The essay carries the assumption which I believe characterizes many religions, i.e. that there has been a rupture in the divine-human relationship, and that some kind of reconciliatory measures are necessary to repair that brokenness.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul states that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Godself."  I will not resort to the "quick to verse" approach that many believers resort to in order to justify their belief or practice, but rather invite you to read both of Paul's letters to the Corinthian Church.  When we read the Corinthian correspondence in context, we find that the background of these letters is one of people who have come from a Gentile background with minimal knowledge of the Jewish faith, and who are now incorporated by faith in Jesus into the Christian community.  As with other piece of Paul's correspondence, we find that he alludes to God's reconciling acts in history.

The question for us is, when Paul says that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world," was he referring to the event of Jesus's crucifixion and death as the means of divine-human reconciliation, or was he referring to something over and beyond that?  This writer's (yours truly) position is that since Paul was very familiar with the notion of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, and that since Paul's view of Jesus was not one restricted to the incarnation at Bethlehem, that his notion of reconciliation extends to the pre-Christian era.  In other words, for Paul, the Christ-event of reconciliation did not begin at Calvary, but rather long before.

This of course, raises the question of whether or not, there were civilizations and peoples that experienced God's reconciling acts in Christ prior to the formation of the Jewish and Christian communities?  In response to that, I would humbly and respectfully submit that a careful and thorough reading of Paul's letters to the different churches will reveal that Paul's view of Jesus was that of the "Cosmic Christ," i.e. the Christ who had been at work throughout human history in ways which perhaps were not recorded in writing, nor fully understood or even agreed on by the Christian community.  This issue raises the question of "Christophanies", i.e. manifestations of Christ prior to the incarnation at Bethlehem.  Many Christians will state that it began at Bethlehem and ended at Calvary.  This writer believes that it started in the mythological Garden of Eden and continues on to the present day.  Let me clarify that when I use the term "mythological," I do not mean "not true," but rather a sacred story which may or may not be literally true, but that nevertheless points to something greater beyond itself, i.e. in this case, the fall of humankind into sin, and God's initiative in liberating and reconciling acts.

Well, this brings us back to the question of whether there were Christophanies in those nations whose religious practices predated Judaism and Christianity?  Because the biblical witness describes a God who is cosmic and universal, and because the Jesus described in the New Testament is a person whose message of love, justice, and reconciliation had a universal thrust, I cannot help  but believe that many prior civilizations experienced the reconciling acts of God in Christ in their own ways. God was in Christ throughout the whole of human history, and continues the acts of reconciliation in our times.  While the Old Testament scriptures restrict the dealings of God to the nation of Israel, and while the New Testament scriptures restrict God's dealings to the Church, other civilizations and peoples are not mentioned directly in these divine-human reconciliatory activities.  This does not mean however, that because they are not mentioned, that they are "outside" the scope of God's initiative of reconciling with humankind.  Only a Judaeo-Christian imperialistic interpretation of the Bible would lead us to that conclusion.

I now invite you to engage in this discussion by sharing with us your views on God's dealings with humankind.  Is God, in your view, only the God of Christians and Jews, or is God also the God of Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and others?  Tell us where you stand on this issue and what the basis is for your position.  Your input should make for a very lively discussion.

Grace and peace,
Dr. Juan A. Ayala-Carmona