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Word Gems 

exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity

The Day Jesus Became God

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a very brief summary of When Jesus Became God

No official minutes of the Nicene Councils were recorded. What we know of the proceedings derives from diaries, personal letters, later comments, and writings of those attending.

Dr. Richard E. Rubenstein invested 15 years tracking down these various sources and discovered a most tawdry picture of mafia-like church politics.

Jesus became God in 381 AD. That's the year the so-called church fathers, one political-group of them, finally succeeded in their quest to elevate Jesus to godhood. Along their bloody path, and now armed with Rome's might, fellow bishops and priests who had disagreed, were excommunicated, banished, beaten, and, whenever possible, murdered. The process of Jesus' apotheosis had required nearly 200 years of political maneuvering.

the true power at the council meetings

Emperor Constantine, a venal peacock strutting on a gaudy stage of his own making, arrayed in fine jewels and costly garment, was not about to miss these meetings; indeed, he had paid for the microphone, footed the travel bill of the hundreds attending. Nicaea was chosen as conclave venue because it was near Constantine's summer residence, his mansion on the lake.

Rubenstein made me laugh as he described the opening ceremonies. Not a man of the cloth, Constantine had observed a veneer of proper protocol in requesting permission to attend. A muffled murmur of dispirited group-assent was the response - as if they could deny the bejeweled man flanked by humorless Roman soldiers with broadswords.

And this became the "pious and prayerful" atmosphere in which "infallible" doctrines of the Church were born.

what was in it for Constantine

Desiring to bring order to an empire with too many rioting factions, he understood that unity in religious belief could offer a peace which occupying troops could not.

The bishops - 250 of them attending the first council in 325 AD - ruled their respective church-areas a little too freely for Constantine's liking. The disunited fiefdoms of the various bishops looked like modern squabbling denominations. There was not yet any supreme Pope in Rome, overseeing the whole church. The rewriting of history, the propaganda fairy-tale suggesting that all flowed in unbroken sequence from Peter, would come later.

Constantine's dilemma was this: There were far too many theological opinions ("heresy" is the Greek word for opinion), too many untidy debates, which led to street riots by competing true-believers. 

How could he assume the role of hero to the commoners, a political savior offering prosperity, with inconsiderate people running around killing each other in the market square? - and over trivial technical points of religious doctrine, too. No, this would never do; this is not what Constantine wanted.

a temporal ruler, flanked by flashing broad-swords, injects himself into eternal matters of the kingdom of God

Constantine was no clergyman but a secular official. Nevertheless, he arranged for and convened an ecclesiastical conference; had acted like a Pope; had summoned all of the warring, independent bishops together.

And why would the bishops obey him? Well, it's those Roman swords again, which convincingly win many arguments. But, even more, if one were to become an obedient little bishop, one who did the right thing as a good citizen of the realm, he might be blessed by Father Constantine with great financial reward, secure office, real estate and buildings, and the backing, should it be required, of Roman military force.

On the other hand, those who couldn't quite see the big picture, and thereby courted the displeasure of the king, were excommunicated, stripped of church office, and/or banished - but, if truly obstinate, became recipients of a much worse fate.

safer to be his pig than his son

We know that Constantine was not shy about killing even family members to effect his plans. And this detail was not lost upon the college of bishops. One is reminded of what Emperor Augustus had said of Herod, another murderous despot: "It is safer to be Herod's pig than his son." And this judgment also applied to Constantine.

Immersed in this spirit of coercion and intimidation, of the sort that would have pleased Stalin's Chekka, the councils crafted "infallible" church doctrines, the "holy teachings," handed down to us today; as we've used the phrase, now "sanctified by much time."

But doesn't the Bible say that Jesus is God? Didn't he himself say he was God? Didn't his miracles prove that he was God?

There are so many things amiss with these statements, one hardly knows where to begin. It's why I've devoted many writings to this issue.

See the article on the Gospel Of Thomas for much discussion on the history of Jesus as God. Only the Gospel of John promoted Jesus as God.

The idea of Jesus as a "second God" was unknown in his own day and found currency, in a beginning way and minority view, many decades after the fact - to blossom as church-sanctioned "holy" doctrine only after another two hundred years.

what was "the reason behind the reason"

Why did the politically-minded bishops seek to institute this promoted and ultimate version of Jesus?

But an even more compelling question is this:

why did a secular ruler of state see great advantage for himself in a religious doctrine

What are the practical consequences and benefits, especially, to those who covet worldly power over others?

The issue becomes this:

if Jesus is Man...

If Jesus is presented to us as Man - granted, the most advanced and evolved Man in the universe, but Man, nevertheless - then what is the implied message to the average person?

• Do you sense the unstated encouragement for all of us in this view of Jesus? Why did the majority of Christians, for hundreds of years, exult to view Jesus as Man?

If Jesus is Man; if he, in essence, is just like you and me, albeit, more advanced and mature; if Jesus is someone who grew and changed and became more - then, each one of us, too, can grow and change and become more. It means that, no matter our present state, we too can become good, truly good, from the inside out, just like our older brother Jesus.

How absolutely remarkable.

Dr. Elaine Pagels of Harvard says this: "I came to see that for nearly the first four hundred years of our era, Christians regarded freedom as the primary message of Genesis [chapters] 1-3."

For almost four hundred years - until the time of the church councils - people rejoiced in the message of Genesis: "We are made in the divine image. What a high calling and honor!"

the real gospel, the real good news

And it didn't matter if, in Roman society, you were a slave or a nobleman, you had the same godlike potential and destiny. You could grow and develop and become more. You could alter the selfish nature and become truly good. Further, no matter one's current diminished state of living, there's a very good future awaiting us. It was a good-news message, Pagels tells us, of "freedom from tyrannical government and from fate; and self-mastery as the source of such freedom."

Jesus, for hundreds of years, by a majority of Christians, was viewed as Man, as one of us - a Man who led this grand process of spiritual metamorphosis. "I am the way, the truth, and the light," meant to early Christians, "Look to me and to what I did. You can do this too. You too have eternal life within you. Despite the hardships of planet Earth, you will yet live an exalted life befitting one who harbors eternity deep within."

Truly, this is "good news".

Dr. Pagels adds this: After almost four hundred years, the Genesis freedom "message changed. In the late fourth century, Augustine" and other so-called church-fathers crafted doctrines to keep the increasingly-ebullient serfs from becoming too uppity.

It was the era of the famous church councils; there were several. Fear and guilt, plus threats of eternal fire - not inspirational thoughts of freedom and human dignity - would now keep the drones in line. The dark-spirited ecclesiastical politicians sought to enslave people in co-dependency and servility. Not by accident, this was the advent of "infallible" doctrines, such as, not only the divinity of Jesus, but original sin - something they designed to dispirit you, to keep you from getting too hopeful, so you'd be easier to control; a concept utterly contrary to Genesis' "made in the image" message of freedom and dignity.

If you study the ways of the Small Ego, you will find that it's equipped with well-honed radar, an early-warning device, which allows it to see into the future regarding how certain actions or ideas will impinge upon its quest for power and control.

And church politicians could divine the entrails and discern that "Jesus as Man," with an emphasis on everyone having been created in the divine image, would deal a severe blow to their schemes of lording it over the plebs.

• Because if Jesus is Man, and if all of us are thus similarly endowed to potentially emulate the Great Elder Brother, then, pray tell, what need have we of a "Holy Mother Church" to save us? - thank you, but no, they will say to her.

Of what use are magic hand-signs and magic words when one has received, as original factory installation, a soul made in the very image of God. The truth is, the people do not need to be 'saved' - they just need to open their eyes to what they already possess.

But who will preach this good news when there is so much money and power to be gained by convincing people that they are scum and unlovable, but for the high-priced services of the Nice Young Man at Church?

but if Jesus is God...

Nobody at Nicaea had a problem with calling Jesus the Son of God. To this assertion, one group said, that's good, that's cool, but we're all sons and daughters of God. The opposition, however, didn't like such "devilish" and "blasphemous" egalitarianism and held out for more. But why? - what is their "reason behind the reason"?

If the ecclesiastical bourgeoisie can convince you that you are rabble, that you're no good, that you are so despicable that not even God could love you unless the divinely-chosen church fathers intervene on your worthless behalf, well then, now power flows in a certain direction and to a certain elite black-frocked group, doesn't it?

• Editor's note: I recall, in my biblical studies as a young man, thinking something that I didn't want to dwell on, as it seemed disrespectful, but... If Jesus is God, it's all very nice to know that he never sinned and did many wonderful things... but... what does this have to do with my life? I am not God! I have little in common with Jesus! He says that he is the way, the truth, and the light. But how can I follow a perfect God? What kind of success would I have? And I know that the bible-preachers are quick to say, oh, but when Jesus lives in you, you will be like him! And how will that happen? They say, it will happen by being dunked in or splashed with water, by praying, by obeying the church's rules, by trying very hard to do what Jesus did. And now, I'm exhausted, breaking out in a cold sweat, just contemplating this required herculean effort. Strange, isn't it. Jesus himself said his burden was easy and light. Why isn't that preached? Who can explain that to me? But, such clarity aside, if what you say is true that Jesus the God has saved us, then, with two billion or so Christians in the world, is society really becoming better? Have we been washed from our sins? Is the world more like Jesus with all of this church-attending and water-sprinkling and confession-going? Someone is either lying or severely deluded concerning process here.

Further, in this interlaced web of disinformational malfeasance, if you truly are the filth of the earth, stained with "original sin" that never really comes off; if God is angry with you all the time; if you might be saved, but only in a very close call; well then, the idea of Jesus as God comes in quite handy to explain how the "unwashed" might be spared the fires of hell.

The beloved Mother Church now says, in such a case, considering our innate depravity, Jesus needs to be God in order to save us - a great example of "the Joker is wild"; that, God is so high and holy that his perfect law requires blood to satisfy cosmic demands; that, given our utmost moral destitution, only such an ultimate sacrifice, of Divinity Himself dying, might counterbalance the heights of heinousness of all that we are - more "snowballs in July, Doc" sophistry.

• The ecclesiastical spin doctors will say, We "fell" from grace. We sinned as Adam did. It's our fault. We caused God so much trouble that he needed to spill the blood of his own Son, just because he loved us so much. But wait. I thought you said God was all-knowing and all-powerful. So, now he's blaming us for what he should have known we would do? He set us up for failure, like babies who can't help touching the shiny red ball when you said don't touch it. So why did he make us so frail as to predictably muck-up our lives? or, in the frailty, expect too much too soon from the babies? Is the immature baby eternally damned for touching? What kind of farce and nonsense is this?

As I review these dark concepts of propaganda, this common god-talk of the religious hucksters, did you notice how the "fear and guilt meter" in your heart spiked upward? That's what this calculated disingenuity is designed to do - to keep you locked into fear and guilt, so that you'll keep on "paying and praying and obeying," and remaining on the plantation.

And here's the sweet clincher in the Small Ego's plan, explicitly laid out: If you need the Church to save you, guess who controls the real estate, the silk curtains, and the million-dollar paintings? Guess who postures as arbiter of heaven's grace toward the earthly low-lifes? Guess who collects the fees at the gate? Guess who serves as agent of the noble Christ and the angry Father? Guess who acts as official cicerone to the precincts of heaven?

So much power to be gained over people in their terrors of death. So much money to be gathered. So much adulation and applause to be extracted from the fearful masses.

Institutional Big-Religion constitutes one of the gigantic curses upon humankind; a cesspool of superstition and misinformation; and, as I once stated to a friend, the greatest con-game in the history of the world  - all this, the pious pageantry and sanctimonious make-believe, so incredibly far removed, as Elizabeth Fry points out, from the simple teachings of the Carpenter from Nazareth.