Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 2, 2007 - St. Athanasius
[Acts 12:24-13:5A and John 12:44-50]Jesus cried out and said, "Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me."
The feast of St. Athanasius offers a chance to recognize that religious belief carries with it the threat of violence. He lived c.295-373 AD and people were still debating rather ferociously about Jesus' identity. Was he human only with lots of help from God? Was he a kind of "junior" God? Was he God in a human costume? What is it that Jesus tells us we're seeing when he says, "Whoever sees me sees the one who sent me?" Lots of theological debate was going on in Athanasius' time, and he was not one to avoid a quarrel. The Middle East even today can get very excited about religious matters and in Athanasius' time, it was hot enough that he was exiled from his diocese three times by political/religious rivals over the issue of Jesus' divinity. The Acts of the Apostles and St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians give considerable descriptions of riots and attempted assassinations! St. Paul's list includes more than one shipwreck as well as floggings and treachery! We may read the same passage in the Gospel of John and say, "Well, I'm not sure I know exactly what Jesus is saying, but I don't think I'd try to kill somebody over it!" There are other folks who would because they see their faith as one with life, and not a private opinion. Other approaches that seem contradictory to one's own will seem threatening to an entire way of life. I think our culture felt that to some degree with the occurrence of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. But what way of life would we be defending? Would it have anything to do with what we believe theologically ? Or would it be only for the "right" to believe whatever one wishes - the individualism-religion-is-a-private-matter cultural opinion? What happens if we consider our religious faith as a way of life instead of our secular social "compact?" Athanasius was a rather fierce and abrasive proponent of the way of seeing Jesus that we profess in the Nicean Creed. He was nearly killed for his preaching. Can we ignore or pass over this by saying, "That was then. This is now?" Once our faith has become divorced from the rest of our way of living, we really have nothing to defend! AMEN
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