While our Christian members are welcome to answer, I'm mostly interested in responses from non-Christians.
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Who Is Christ to You?
- Thread starter SalixIncendium
- Start date
MonkeyFire
Well-Known Member
I am a Christian reformer/pacifist. I believe Jesus is not a real person but a manifestation of himself safe in Heaven, deeply meditated into a dream, which is this world. The nature of Jesus is pacifism.
I suppose my answer is kind of boring - Christ is a mythic* figure from Christian traditions who is of great significance and inspiration to followers of those paths. Like any sort of inspiration, what people take from it varies.
* to remind - I do not use the word "mythic" to designate lies or falsehoods, I use it the sense that is proper when discussions religion to reference larger-than-life stories/persons who convey profound truths.
* to remind - I do not use the word "mythic" to designate lies or falsehoods, I use it the sense that is proper when discussions religion to reference larger-than-life stories/persons who convey profound truths.
Twilight Hue
Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Christ is just a demigod among those in ancient mythology. No different than any found within the Greek and Roman pantheon of gods and demigods.
Christ is irrelevant to me.
I wish I could share that view. This figure should be irrelevant to me, but the overwhelming cultural dominance of Christian religions where I live forces otherwise. I'm expected to have an opinion, apparently. Pretty sure if I made a thread something along the lines of "what is Gaea to you?" or "what is Hestia to you?" Most would just go "uh... meh?"
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I believe that Jesus was a Manifestation of God.
This excerpt from the Bahai.org website explains what I mean by a Manifestation of God:
Manifestations of God
Throughout the ages, humanity’s spiritual, intellectual and moral capacities have been cultivated by the Founders of the great religions, among them Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and—in more recent times—the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh.
These Figures are not simply ordinary people with a greater knowledge than others. Rather they are Manifestations of God, Who have exerted an incomparable influence on the evolution of human society. While each of Them has a distinct individuality and a definite mission, the Manifestations of God all share in a single, divinely-ordained purpose—to “educate the souls of men, and refine the character of every living man…”1
The Manifestation of God is the light-bringer of the world. Like the arrival of spring, His coming releases a fresh outpouring of spirit into creation and has a universal effect. When humanity has entered its “winter,” this new “sun” appears above the horizon and “shines upon the worlds of spirits, of thoughts and of hearts…” Then, “the spiritual spring and new life appear, the power of the wonderful springtime becomes visible, and marvelous benefits are apparent.”2
Manifestations of God | What Bahá’ís Believe
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
When I read about jesus, I just thought about his description and words as from a regular guy like you and I with a cause. Regular everyday Joe Smoe. I never had personal attachment to the bible and gospels. Asking, for example, who is Napoleon or Aristotle even to me, and it's pretty much just the same. I'm not sure why jesus would need to be mystic, special, avatar, or anything like that. If one doesn't believe in christian and abrahamic theology, why would he need to be anything else but what he said he was: a man.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
Christ is very relevant to me, in some ways even more relevant than Baha'u'llah, although not as relevant to this age in history.
I was not raised as a Christian so Christ never meant anything to me before I started to post on forums seven years ago, but after that I started reading the New Testament and I realized the nature and scope of His teachings.
To me, Christ is another word for "Avatar" and I take Jesus to have been one manifestation of the Ancient One. From Meher Baba's Discourse "The Avatar":
The Avatar appears in different forms, under different names, at different times, in different parts of the world. As his appearance always coincides with the spiritual birth of man, so the period immediately preceding his manifestation is always one in which humanity suffers from the pangs of the approaching birth. Man seems more than ever enslaved by desire, more than ever driven by greed, held by fear, swept by anger. The strong dominate the weak; the rich oppress the poor; large masses of people are exploited for the benefit of the few who are in power. The individual, who finds no peace or rest, seeks to forget himself in excitement. Immorality increases, crime flourishes, religion is ridiculed.
Corruption spreads throughout the social order. Class and national hatreds are aroused and fostered. Wars break out. Humanity grows desperate. There seems to be no possibility of stemming the tide of destruction.
At this moment the Avatar appears...
https://www.ambppct.org/Book_Files/Discourses Vol III.pdf
The Avatar appears in different forms, under different names, at different times, in different parts of the world. As his appearance always coincides with the spiritual birth of man, so the period immediately preceding his manifestation is always one in which humanity suffers from the pangs of the approaching birth. Man seems more than ever enslaved by desire, more than ever driven by greed, held by fear, swept by anger. The strong dominate the weak; the rich oppress the poor; large masses of people are exploited for the benefit of the few who are in power. The individual, who finds no peace or rest, seeks to forget himself in excitement. Immorality increases, crime flourishes, religion is ridiculed.
Corruption spreads throughout the social order. Class and national hatreds are aroused and fostered. Wars break out. Humanity grows desperate. There seems to be no possibility of stemming the tide of destruction.
At this moment the Avatar appears...
https://www.ambppct.org/Book_Files/Discourses Vol III.pdf
Daemon Sophic
Avatar in flux
Christ is the figurehead of a widespread religion. A storytale character who fulfilled some prophecy from that time period (roughly 0 CE) that the people of the time were hoping for. As with most such fantasy figures, tales of his magical feats simply grew and grew with each retelling of the make-believe, until people started to believe that it might have been true. Fast forward 2-3 hundred years later in an age when most died before age 50, and almost every bit of information that could be passed between generations was via word of mouth, and you have a “son of God” figure. **Huzzah!**. A few hundred more years before people started to write down these fairy-tales.
It is unlikely that he even existed, being more likely his persona was the next savior figure from an older religion just redrawn. But if he did exist as a man, then he was just some local anti-establishment leader or religious leader who died an ignoble death.
His story was warped and retold to make him out as “the prophesied savior”. 
I never understood why Christians put so much stock into this human-god figure, when per their own Bible, he was trying to teach them about the all powerful God. Not himself. Although he does supposedly plug in that little bit about “only through me” narcissism. Seems he may have been some local middle eastern cult leader (ala Wako Texas).
It is unlikely that he even existed, being more likely his persona was the next savior figure from an older religion just redrawn. But if he did exist as a man, then he was just some local anti-establishment leader or religious leader who died an ignoble death.
His story was warped and retold to make him out as “the prophesied savior”. I never understood why Christians put so much stock into this human-god figure, when per their own Bible, he was trying to teach them about the all powerful God. Not himself. Although he does supposedly plug in that little bit about “only through me” narcissism. Seems he may have been some local middle eastern cult leader (ala Wako Texas).
Interesting question from the perspective of non-Christians.....but I dare say that even Christians have many and varied views on who or what Christ Jesus was....which they assume is backed up by the Bible.
I do not in any way find that difficult to process since the Christian message was going to be preached in amongst a field of "weeds" (fake Christians).
God knows who the weeds are....but sadly, they don't. (Matthew 7:21-23)
I do not in any way find that difficult to process since the Christian message was going to be preached in amongst a field of "weeds" (fake Christians).
God knows who the weeds are....but sadly, they don't. (Matthew 7:21-23)
In that sense it used to be a little more relevant to me, in the school where I taught. There would be Christmas concerts, and I got Christian holidays, but not my holidays. But now that I'm retired, that overwhelming cultural dominance you speak of is far less so. My city is so multicultural that most larger stores don't even play annoying Christmas music.
But personally, no relevance at all.
Jesus is the entity that I had a born-again experience with when I was 12. I'm not sure if he's deity, or my savior, or just what. But I definitely had that experience, and the experiences since...
Christ, on the other hand, is the mythic creation of the Christian religion. To me, was not and is not relevant except as it's central to current Western civilization and my own cultural experiences.
Christ, on the other hand, is the mythic creation of the Christian religion. To me, was not and is not relevant except as it's central to current Western civilization and my own cultural experiences.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I agree, but neither do you.
Wont it be interesting to find out....I agree, but neither do you.
Trailblazer
Veteran Member
I do not believe that WE will ever find out... Only God knows who the weeds are, but we will find out if we are a weed when we find ourselves among the weeds in the spiritual world, since weeds grow together.Wont it be interesting to find out....
If we are not a weed, we will never see the weeds in the spiritual world since we will be in heaven where weeds don't grow.
Father Heathen
Veteran Member
To me, he represents selflessness, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, kindness, generosity, acceptance, patience, tolerance, love.
You know, traits his followers typically detest as weakness and dismiss as socialism.
You know, traits his followers typically detest as weakness and dismiss as socialism.
Gargovic Malkav
Well-Known Member
To me he's a prophet.
A human messenger in service of the Almighty God.
And it is the job of prophets to explain His will and warn of His judgment in human language.
A human messenger in service of the Almighty God.
And it is the job of prophets to explain His will and warn of His judgment in human language.