It's a constant thing; the misrepresentation of religion and the specifically annoying misuse of and deliberate obfuscation of quotations and snippets which are used in a non-contextual sense to prove someone's subjective point. People like to pick and choose. A lot of people tend to form opinions first and then find material with which to back up said theory rather than waiting for the evidence to prove the point and then forming aforementioned opinion on the basis of said information.

Reading through the Matthew Gospel ( primary texts I'm using are THE GOOD NEWS 1966 US English version which was the first major deviation from the King James Text and the 1979 New International Version - with subsequent updates and revisions), it's a key example of sources which are open to misquoting. What I'm doing here in this piece is just taking a quick look at some of the parts of Matthew's gospel and going over what, to me, are some key points and what I see in them.

1"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

The above quote is vital, to my mind. It's also tricky as it is Jesus saying to people not to be hypocritical and showy about their faith whilst not understanding the true practicing of said faith. It is an urging for man to be true to his display of his religious faith rather than doing it so that everyone else can see it and think that he is most righteous because of his marvellous display. The tricky part comes in in terms of some other quotes which seem to imply that one should never be ashamed of or quiet about one's faith. Some people can't read between the lines and see how being true to a display of faith and using subtlety can go hand-in-hand with not shying away from standing up for one's beliefs.


6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you

Again, the message of praying or practicing faith because you feel it, believe it , as opposed to making yourself look good. This would apply very much today where Christian Merchandising, fishes on cars and horrible glowing green dashboard Jesus figures are so predominant.


24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

The great enemy of the soul is Mammon; Materialism sucks away the essence of the soul and traps us in a never-ending cycle of greed, wants and a desperate race to consume everything that we can.


12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[1] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

Key point here is ' go and learn what this means' . Whilst Jesus uses parables, and explains ( in what I feel were somewhat edited for explication purposes pieces) the reason for doing so, there is also an undercurrent throughout the new testament of him wanting people to figure things out for themselves; a case of giving people the tools to make changes to their lives themselves.


32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

This again ties in with the first quotation above, regarding faith, practicing of belief and how to approach your faith within a larger society.



34"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn
" 'a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law--
36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'

Controversial and often misquoted; this is the 'hard' edge of a very loving and humanocentric philosophy at the heart of Christianity. This is one piece that a lot of bible quoters will either overlook or focus on depending on what they are trying to prove. It has to be taken in context of the overall teachings and incorporated within the larger framework wherein it makes sense.


More on this to come.

' Materialism'

Mammon is the big evil of modern society. The God of materialism. Possessions are well-named as that's what they do as well as being what they are. Things possess us when we strive so badly to possess them that we take moral shortcuts. The parent who works later hours to afford the shinier material possession but ends up neglecting time with his/her child. The person who is so proud and precious of his material possessions that he spends more time with hollow baubles than with his friends or family.

Materialism eats away at us and traps us in a never-ending cycle of need fulfillment and a desperate struggle to consume and possess.

The heart of Christianity : two

' sin'

Interesting article in the Sunday Times last week wherein three religious leaders discussed the nature of sin. And it's a very good question, and something which many people would answer differently. What is sin? And what does it mean to us? and Why should we try to avoid it?

To me, sin is many things; principally it's a weakness of the spirit and usually involves doing something that we know and acknowledge is wrong but don't have sufficient willpower or self-control at the particular time to avoid doing. Sin is something that saps our soul and drains our spiritual energy and leaves us feeling bad about ourselves and conflicted. So why do it?

Because it's easier. It's the simple solution. It's the more obvious choice. It precludes seeing the bigger picture and seemingly takes care of whatever resolution we are seeking when debating our course of action. But in the end, it's just a huge mess.

Preface being that these brief pieces are just some of my thoughts on the nature of religion and how it relates to us and our lives and how I personally see the lessons, teachings, writings and doctrines. This is my own understanding and hopefully will be of some use to anyone else interested in or examining their own life, faith or place in life.


Heart of Christianity notes: one

' Purposes and revelations; remonstrations and demonstrations'

Christianity is the teachings of Jesus Christ. It's a religion based around God sending his son to Earth to live amongst us as one of us, trying to impart to us a better way of living and a more spiritual way of being and relating to each other and to God. Jesus lived his life as an example, his preachings and teachings were to try to show us that there was another way besides gross materialism and the inherent greed and hatreds that come along with said state of being. In the end, Jesus sacrificed his life as the ultimate expression of his love for mankind and the absolute adherence to his teachings, his example. He allowed himself to be killed in a swell of man's greed and hatred of the truth. Because being dishonest is easier; it's the quicker solution, and it's hard for people to let go of something they are used to, especially when they benefit ( on the surface) from the continuance of said system.

Jesus represented a threat to the status quo. As he would today were he to reappear. The Pharisees, as the ultimate representatives of mankind gone astray ( supposed to be representing spiritual and moral leadership but instead merely showcasing bankrupt ideals and shallow lifestyles) were constantly looking to find a way to shut Jesus down. Here was this carpenter who dared to challenge everything they strove to uphold. They were so intent on preserving the (corrupt) letter of the law ( which had been suitably bent and selectively interpreted to suit their needs and wants) that when someone who was seeing beyond appearances and showing the way to the substance of the matter appeared, they refused to listen, denying everything he was telling them.

The teachings of Christ show a better, different, more progressive way to live one's life. It was contradictory, explosive, controversial and above all, shockingly different to many of his contemporaries. Many of the people were dismissive. Many were derisory. The powers that be were irritated at first, then annoyed and finally terrified. Why? Because this strange man teaching such outrageous things and going so far against the grain was speaking truths that even they could not deny? Did they recognise the truth in his words but just refuse to accept it? To have the courage to accept change and to be able to let go of something is a remarkable thing.

To my mind, one of the central messages to be found within Christianity is that ' it's never too late'. The power or forgiveness. The strength in absolution. We all err, but the ability to be forgiven when we fall off the path and the ability to begin again with conviction is no minor feat. The Old testaments ( which I would see as the pre-Christian ' prophecy' and ' history' books) often showed a vengeful and wrath driven God but that's not the key behind Christianity.

What the teachings of Jesus set out, in my mind, is that we are all works in progress. We are none of us perfect but we are all of us capable of striving to be something better. There is a better way, the new testament shows us; there are better ways of living, of examining our lives and trying to amend what we are doing wrong. We're all in this together and can all help each other.

( more )

Some thoughts provoked by the movie:

A lot of the things I see as central to the faith and which I find myself thinking about were reflected in Mel Gibson's film. The whole nature of Christianity as a faith of forgiveness, of love overcoming hatred and of being the ' bigger' person; of being able to look fools in the face and realize that you must be patient and overcome their ignorance by showing them the better way. Love is real and is a vital tool to use when dealing with people as is the ability to forgive and move beyond the moment. Material greed is wrong and steals away at your soul. Unfortunately, we didnt see the whole life of Jesus which would have been fascinating from Gibson's excellent take on the parts of the New Testament that he did illuminate on-screen, as I would be interested to see someone else do my favorite part, which is the temple and the banning of the merchants through crass commercialism.