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while we're dunking on bad theology, might as well dunk on my own bad theology
while we're dunking on bad theology, might as well dunk on my own bad theology
these are a few things i believed about jesus until basically just this past year. it's hard to say in retrospect what i was directly told as a protestant kid, what i inferred, and what was just poorly interpreted, but regardless they aren't great!
-Jesus was incarnated because he had to die and God can't die.
-Jesus had to die because God was mad at us for being so very bad (aka penal substitution theory)
-Jesus had to suffer in proportion to how bad our sins are
-Jesus could have stayed dead and we'd still be saved
-Jesus had to die because God was mad at us for being so very bad (aka penal substitution theory)
-Jesus had to suffer in proportion to how bad our sins are
-Jesus could have stayed dead and we'd still be saved
-Jesus willingly went to the cross because He loves us but it was a one-time event a long time ago that, once accepted through the sinner's repentance, seems to diminish in relevance to one's life, since he's alive now and we can all move on i guess
-God resurrected Jesus as kind of a reward for doing the right thing
-anything we suffer on earth should be sucked up because Jesus willingly suffered worse for us
-anything we suffer on earth should be sucked up because Jesus willingly suffered worse for us
anyway i've always been a Christian and converted to Catholicism 4 years ago but a lot of this never really made sense and was frustrating to think about with such a poor framework
in the past couple of years, through talking to friends, finally asking priests for help and book recommendations, listening to good podcasts, and trying to really pay attention to my relationship with Jesus, i've been a little shocked by my poor catechesis as hopefully you are
i remember literally bursting into tears at a women's blogging conference when the speaker laid out very matter-of-factly the idea of offering up our suffering to unite with Christ. it was one of the most startling things i had ever heard and it began to change everything
i learned from @clericalpod about sacramental theology and how the Church is truly entering the mysteries of God through the liturgical year. Good Friday isn't a memorial, it is the day our Lord suffers and dies and we suffer with him. Today He is truly Risen.
like in the Exsultet proclaimed last night:
O truly blessed night,
when things of heaven are wed to those of earth,
and divine to the human
O truly blessed night,
when things of heaven are wed to those of earth,
and divine to the human
i read the college student's introduction to christology by CUA prof William P. Loewe (loan from @FrNickOFMConv i still have to return sorry) and learned about Jesus becoming man to represent the human race as the last adam
and that his death and resurrection literally created the Way of salvation. His call to take up our crosses, die to ourselves, and follow him doesn't mean suck up our burdens and try to live by the sermon on the mount, it means we literally continually follow him into death
that is why death has lost its sting. it has been conquered through His resurrection, and as Christ took on humanity to die, we are given the same new life.
i hope this is not news to you and if it is, i hope i got it correct. even though this easter in self-isolation is bitter, i am so grateful for the sweetness of knowing Jesus more and understanding that our suffering can be united to him and used by God to redeem the world
for the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world
