Updated April 26, 2008
Christianity Reformed from its Roots
A life centered in God, like Jesus’s
“I must
be about my Father’s business” (Luc 2.49)
by Jairo Mejia
Important Notice
Responding to
the request of many visitors, this Page is now available as a book. The format
has been restructured, and the text has been thoroughly edited and updated from
the beginning to the end. (Please see Table
of Contents, below). New essays on important topics have been added as well
as some prayers.
In the
internet, only the beginning of each essay is displayed; to see the full text
of the essays you must go to the book. All links of this front page are
working, but the links inside the essays may not work; I apologize. Visitors
may order the book from the next banner. Click inside with the “hand,” and it
opens the information you need.
Or click
here.
To communicate with the author please click here: jmejia@mbay.net, and write on the Subject line: Comments or Questions. Your feedback will be highly appreciated. Thank you.
Please see a preview of
the book.
Table of
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Part One
Critique
and Commentary about Traditional Teachings
Chapter I: Revelation
Chapter II: Meaning of Being a Christian
Chapter III: Religion
Chapter IV: About Jesus
Chapter V: About God
Chapter VI: Christian faith
Chapter VII: The Bible
Chapter VIII: Life after death
Part Two
The new
vision
Section One
Schema
One under the New Vision, and Reflections
Chapter IX: The New Vision
Chapter X: Development on the Reflections – Part One
Chapter XI: Development on the Reflections – Part Two
Section Two
Schema
Two under the New Enlightenment, and Developments
Chapter XII: The New Enlightenment
Chapter XIII: Development of Schema Two
Part Three
My
Prayers
Chapter XIV: Early Prayers
Chapter XV: Later Prayers
Chapter XVI: Personal Prayers
Index of Names and
Places
Bibliography
Subject Index
Jairo Mejia – January 12,
2008
To know
about the author, please read first the Personal note, below, and then click here. It is very convenient that you see the historical context and
perspective of this Page; please click here.
Why the title "Christianity reformed from
its roots"
I will respond to this question throughout
the whole work on this internet page, but I want to give a brief answer at the
beginning, in order to put things in perspective.
The dictionary defines reform as a verb
saying that it is "to improve by alteration, correction of error, or
removal of defects;" and as a noun as "a change for better; a
correction of evils or abuses." Revise on the other hand is defined as
"to change or modify." This definition of change is so generic that
it does not recognize the facts of the errors or defects that must be
corrected; it seems to me this would be too lenient for what Christianity
needs. That is why I used the word "reformed."
I do not pretend with the title of this
work to be a second Martin Luther, or a third after the Episcopal bishop John
S. Spong, who wants to be a second Luther; I just want to give the proper name
to a fact, that is, that Christianity needs a deep reformation, in my opinion.
Reformation is reformation, regardless who is the reformer, or what the
reformation is about, but it means that it is something radical. This is the
point. Christianity does not need "reformations," palliative
revisions, but a real reformation, a reformation from the roots.
Personal
note
Six years have elapsed since I wrote four
books, Step by Step with the Bible. These books present the central traditional
teachings of Christianity, today. I tried then to present the Christian message
to the best of my knowledge.
Being too busy with my ministry I didn't
give sufficient time to study the scientific, historical and biblical advances
of the last decades, and what I read or studied was always writings that
reinforced my own beliefs and opinions. It was after my retirement in 1994 that
I gave more time to prayer and also ample time to the study of contemporary
science as well as to biblical and historical investigations.
I must confess that I was behind in all
these fields of science, history and biblical investigation. I am afraid that
many pastors and most Christians do not devote sufficient time to the study of
these disciplines. As a consequence, the relevance of Christian teachings
diminishes every day and the breach between religion and science is larger
daily. This is fatal for religion, and its relevance or life in modern people.
And then, what happened to me because of
my "discoveries"? What must happen, happened, if I wanted to be
honest: to confront myself about my own beliefs, recognize my errors and
misunderstandings, and revise all my beliefs from the roots. I have believed
all my life that there could not be opposition or contradiction between
religion and science. When science tells me something about a certain fact,
religion must accept it.
I had to "reformulate" my credo.
I did that initially through a series of prayers that I composed for my daily
prayer, and later through a series of documents or essays, according to my
daily discovering and deepening; but my present mind is better reflected in my Page's
Directory, "Most recently released documents,"
starting with the series The Schema of interpretations about God, the
world, mankind and religion. (You may see it, here.) I do not think
that any of my prayers or essays is final, and probably they never will be.
I am going to share this work with you.
Why? Because I want to share what I have learned, and perhaps some of you will
find some light among all your uncertainties too. Perhaps also some readers
will find that Christianity is compatible with modern science, not the
traditional teaching I must say, but a reformed Christianity, reformed from its
roots.
Please look at the Directories of the Page to find any
document or prayer.
Originally written on July 11, 2002 and
updated March 21, 2005.
Directories
For a detailed subject directory, click here; for main topics only, click here
Introductory
Directory
If you are looking for communication with God, look for Prayers, at the end of Directory
If you want to start with a
positive note, click the following title, or rather, the Alternate version, which is an update:
Who is Jesus
- Song of praise to Jesus
Song of
praise to Jesus - Alternate version
You may want to start with a
document about: What being a Christian means, in
simple terms
If you want to start with a
critical note, click the following title: Christian faith: facts and consequences
If you become angry reading
this page, you might read: Reflections for angry readers of
"Christianity..."
If you feel hurt reading this
page, you might read: The pain of changing the image
of Jesus
Abuses of some churches, the
Roman Catholic Church included: Un-Christlike pressure from
organized religion
It doesn't have to be "your"
way to have peace and salvation. See this: Living in peace and trust in the
love of God
It is a fact that religious
faith is based on many unproven presuppositions. Read this: Presuppositions
of faith
Do atheists have reason to
scoff at religion? - Failure of churches; Religion is a commitment with
God, not a ritual or external vow
Most
recently released documents
My latest
reflections. Comprehensive and updated review. Does not include the revision,
additions and updates of the book.
1. Schema of interpretations about God,
the world, mankind, and religion
(6 Themes)
2. Being, Presence and Action of God in creation Under the light of the law of Energy equal
mass
by speed of light square (E=mc2)
3. “Identification” with God
- Jesus,
Prototype of identification with God
4. Reflections about the Being of
God and creation (Complement or continuation of previous ones)
5. Fundamental points of spiritual
life - (Complement or continuation of previous ones)
6. God in Space and Time
Perspective - Time and
Eternity
7. Experience of the Infinite Being
of God by Limited Human Beings
8. Faith, Grace and Supernatural in
a World of Science
9. The Paradox of Some Christian
Teachings - "Personalities" in God - From
Reason to Faith, to "Amen" and Eternity
10. My name is Existence, To Be,
"I Am." - God, the "Personification" of
Existence. Elucidation of the Experience of God
12. Eternal "Ideas" in God - How
we may see Jesus, the Word, and ourselves on this vision of the mind of God
13.
Schema about the Nature,
Attributes and Communication with God " of God (Three Themes)
See the Prayer Conversation with God about his presentness, below. (This is
not a link.)
14. Evil – In which sense we may say
that evil is good
15. Presence of God in space or his
presenceness
16. Is God out of the world? He must
be! - The
spiritual order
17. Everyone of us, and the universe,
are in God - God, the
Giver, not the Receiver
Other
most recent documents
"It was revealed," what does
this mean?
1. Revelation as experiences of the divine - God does not talk to humans but humans may
experience God
2. "Revelations" are to be experienced - Beliefs about God through other people's
experience or through our own experience
3. Bible's
"revelations" must be scrutinized - The
quintessence of Christianity is to experience God as a father
4.
"Revelations" outside Christianity -
Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism - "Revelations" on the
internet
What being a
Christian means, in simple terms - Part 1 - What the
initial followers of Jesus thought and did
What being a
Christian means, in simple terms - Part 2 - The
teachings of Jesus were not kept untouched, but evolving, even altered
What being a
Christian means, in simple terms - Part 3 - Jesus'
dedication to God - Worshiping is the same in all traditions
Paradoxes of
Christian faith - What God's grace is and what does and
creates
Presence and
action of God in us, by grace - What God's grace is and what
it does and creates
Globalization
and religion - Part 1 - From Judaism, to
Christianity, to Islam
Globalization and religion -
Part 2 - Religions opened up
Globalization and religion -
Part 3 - The hegemony of some religions - Recognizing the real Jesus
Titles of
documents, by topics - Truth "hard to swallow" - You might wish it were not so
About
Jesus - See also the Prayers, below.
Is it
possible to know who Jesus really was? - Probably
no
Jesus, the
Redeemer - Problems with the doctrine of redemption
A deeper reflection
on Jesus - Light on a difficult matter
Intimacy with
Jesus - The uniqueness of Jesus
The glorified
Jesus - 1. How he might be - New Testament writers
contemplated the glorified Jesus
The glorified
Jesus - 2. His roles - Jesus as the Prototype of the new
creation
The glorified
Jesus - 3. A conflict with God? - A religion without Jesus
Could Jesus
be called Christ? - What the "divine" being of
Jesus may include
"Koinonía,"
Communion with Jesus - Communion is an act of faith
Christian
faith: the preeminence of Jesus - The apostles and the
communion with Jesus
Is communion
with Jesus part of Christian life? - The
experience of Jesus
Is Jesus the
necessary Mediator for mankind? - The doctrine of salvation
must be universal
About
God - See also the Prayers,
below.
May we please
God? - It depends on the kind of God we are talking
about
Worship one
God, purpose of religion - The Trinity, a dogma that might be
reformulated
The "God
of the gaps" - Why we should believe in Jesus
The being of
God - A transcendent and impassible God or a loving and
caring God
Prayer about
the Being and Will of God - New version
What it means
to communicate with God - Does God hear? have feelings? can be
pleased?
The demands
of worshiping God and its consequences - Action of
God upon us
Concepts
about God - Is God really a Father? - Use of analogies,
symbols and metaphors to call God
Is it
possible to communicate with God - Risk of
distortion with the use of "Abba," Father
Prayer "Our Father" - "Paulinity" versus Christianity
- "Idolaters" of the Bible - Jesus' dedication to God
"Let your kingdom come" - The
"Give us our daily bread" - Transcendent God, Immanent God and
Providential God
Action and
providence of God - A personal way of praying
Prayer about
the Providence of God - New version
About
the Bible
Bible and
Revelation - Revelation is not yesterday's but today's
The Bible, a
book of inspiration - And also of
disillusion - Why?
About
Christianity
Christianity
seen from its roots - Gap between Jesus' mind and later
"enlargements"
Reflections
about Christian faith - Manipulation of faith by churches and
teachers
Christian
faith and churches are in crisis - Specific
changes in Christianity which are overdue
Presuppositions
of faith - It is a fact that religious faith is based on many
unproven presuppositions
About
Redemption
Jesus, the
Redeemer - Problems with the doctrine of redemption
About
eternal life - See also the Prayers,
below.
The new
creation - Life after death
Communication
with the afterlife - Since there is none, why should we
believe in eternal life
Titles of
Prayers - Affirmative and directive prayers with comment and explanation.