These are terms heard often in Christianity. It seems to Christians this means following the deeds, words and actions of a man called Jesus Christ, who appears in the Bible but can it mean something else as well?
To me it does.
No doubt the man who lived and loved in the New Testament is a wonderful example to follow and I love learning more about him, praying to him and reading about him - his thoughts, words, actions and motivations. However, I recognize that not everyone feels this way, and a vast majority of the world does not choose to see him as their Savior, redeemer, guru, teacher, prophet or messiah.
So how do the words of scripture pertainging to salvation only through Christ apply to people who choose not to follow him or who have never heard of him? As a Mormon-Pagan I believe in the Universal doctorine of salvation (no one is going to hell).
I also believe strongly in the 11th article of faith as delivered by Joseph Smith from our Heavenly Parents. It reads, "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."
Mosiah 5:8 states, "There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives."
No other name given whereby salvation cometh - you can only be saved through Christ.
Fair enough, but only through Christ or only through Jesus Christ?
Ah, here's where it gets tricky. The scriptures usually says Christ. "It is only through Christ" not specifically Jesus Christ.
The Articles of Faith are a great example of this. The first article says, "We believe in God the eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ..." So it's clear that to be Mormon you would need to believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God but in the third article we find, "We believe that through the atonment of Christ, all mankind may be saved ..." So for all of humankind to be saved they must atone through Christ, but it does not say Jesus Christ.
Do you see what I mean? For Mormons it was specific, we believe in Jesus Christ, but for all of mankind it was general, through the atonment of Christ.
But there is no other Christ, you say, Jesus Christ is Christ.
Well, maybe he is the only person to whom the word Christ can be affixed and maybe he's not, it depends on what you believe. That's not to say that Christ can be applied generally to anyone. We can't just decide one day to worship Bob Christ just because we use the word Christ what I am saying is we should take a look at the word Christ itself. What does it mean? We all know it wasn't Jesus' last name.
Come with me will you? Let's take a journey to the good folks over at onlinedictionary.com.
Christ \Christ\, n. [L. Christus, Gr. ?, fr. ? anointed, fr.
chri`ein to anoint. See Chrism.]
The Anointed; an appellation given to Jesus, the Savior. It
is synonymous with the Hebrew Messiah.
[1913 Webster]
Christ
n 1: a teacher and prophet born in Bethlehem and active in
Nazareth; his life and sermons form the basis for
Christianity (circa 4 BC - AD 29) [syn: Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth
, the Nazarene, Jesus Christ, Christ,
Savior, Saviour, Good Shepherd, Redeemer,
Deliverer]
2: any expected deliverer [syn: messiah, christ]
Christ
anointed, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word rendered
"Messiah" (q.v.), the official title of our Lord, occurring five
hundred and fourteen times in the New Testament. It denotes that
he was anointed or consecrated to his great redemptive work as
Prophet, Priest, and King of his people. He is Jesus the Christ
(Acts 17:3; 18:5; Matt. 22:42), the Anointed One. He is thus
spoken of by Isaiah (61:1), and by Daniel (9:24-26), who styles
him "Messiah the Prince."
So the word Christ itself seems to have been the Greek word for Messiah that was applied to Jesus after it was deemed that he was the Messiah foretold of by Hebrew scriptures.
Terrific, and by the way, I believe he was. So what then does Messiah mean?
Again let's check in with the good people of onlinedictionary.com
messiah
n 1: any expected deliverer [syn: messiah, christ]
2: Jesus Christ; considered by Christians to be the promised
deliverer
3: the awaited king of the Jews; the promised and expected
deliverer of the Jewish people
4: an oratorio composed by Handel in 1742
So if a messiah is any expected deliever or specifically Jesus, then to take the name of Christ, to follow Christ, to be like Christ as our only means of salvation doesn't seem to me that one need believe specifically in Jesus of Nazareth as that person. Can one find salvation through any good deliever? Through any foretold messanger of peace and love?
I would make the argument that, yes, one could. When scriptures speak of baptisim, following Christ, taking upon the name of Christ for ourselves it is fine to see Christ as Jesus but I think that scripture is more expansive then that and allows for nearly any loving and peaceful belief structure to fufill the need to find salvation through (a) Christ in our lives.
So finding salvation through a redeemer of love and peace, through a child of God, is the only means of salvation. But what does slavation mean? Ah, that's another blog altogether my friends.
All paintings by Liz Lemon Swindle, used for education purposes only
