Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Charism

In reading the commentary on Lamentations by Origen, the last page sparked the most questions. (Frankly the rest of the reading was pretty boring, since I did not understand a lot of the citations). The idea of a charism, or face of God was the center of the conclusion. The charism is supposedly "the outcome of all prophecy, is Christ," (Origen, 85). Apostles also try to imitate Christ. My question is how God fits into this- does he speak through the Christ, or is he the spirit of the Christ incarnate?
Secondly, what about the "spirit of the face" (Origen, 85)? This may also be God, since he is "the spirit of our face, Christ the Lord," (Origen, 84). The spirit of the face is also the spirit of the prophets. According to Origen, the spirit of the face cast the Jews out of the kingdom of God (Mt. 21:43). Was this whole Lamentation about the Jews being subjected to enemies by God because of their lawlessness in Jerusalem, specifically the crucifixion of Christ? (I feel that I need a time frame for the invasion and Christ's death.) However, the Jews would be accepted back into the kingdom of God "if they were to return to the Lord", (Origen, 84). The vagueness of this statement suggests that Jews should become Christians, or remove some sort of veil that clouds their judgment. No wonder anti-semitism was rampant in the middle ages in Europe, since the main book that people read or listened to was the Bible. How were Jews supposed to redeem themselves when that would have meant giving up their culture? In addition, they would have to see the spirit of the face without the veil mentioned above, which is even more ambiguous.
In conclusion, I know little more about Christianity, and still am confounded by its stories since they do not explain themselves very well. I also see Christianity as being an intolerant religion, since a belief in Jesus as the Christ is required of anyone who may have agnostic feelings or monotheist beliefs without Christ. The Jews have been an oppressed people for centuries because of the Bible and Christianity/the clergy's tenets. I wonder how Christianity was able to gain so much power over people.

No comments: