Posts Tagged ‘Evils of Pluralism; Fullness of Revelation; The One True Christ’

Modern Day Liars

Thursday, January 2nd, 2014

St. Basil the Great

John 2: 22-28; John 1: 19-28

Dc. Larry Brockman

“Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ” is a liar.  Pretty strong words.  Some context is helpful, I think.   

You see, this Epistle was written at a time when there was much discussion amongst the first Christians and converts about just who Jesus was.  John believed that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine.  But there were many who just couldn’t believe that this person that they knew personally- one who ate and drank with them; who was a simple carpenter; who lived a relatively straightforward life from the age of 12 to the beginning of his public ministry at age 30- they couldn’t really accept the fact that Jesus was THE Christ, the one and only savior for all time, the Messiah.  They couldn’t bring themselves to accept him as God even after many of them personally witnessing the Resurrection.  John is calling these people “liars” because they used worldly arguments to undermine the legacy that Jesus left and that was handed on by the Apostles to them.  The “lie” consists of the pollution and dilution of the real word of God by these people.  And like all lies, it has consequences, because it leads people astray from the truth.  You see, once you reject a critical part of the truth; what is to prevent erosion of the rest of the truth?   

But John points out the anecdote- that these early Christians have been Baptized and anointed; so they have heard the truth; and they have been armed with the grace that comes from the Holy Spirit.  It is a grace that can and should sustain them to keep the faith, and live their lives accordingly.  It is a call to live faithfully according to the Gospel legacy that Jesus left, so that when Christ comes the second time at the Last Judgment, they can stand tall with confidence that they have lived a life pleasing to God.   

Today is the feast of St. Basil the Great.  In the 4th Century St. Basil fought valiantly against just such a heresy as John refers to.  He fought against people who didn’t believe in the divinity of Jesus.   

It is no different today, you know.  We have many liars in our presence; people who deny the divinity of Jesus.  The liars of today are those who read the word of God and hear the teachings of the Church but they try to dilute and pollute these teachings with the “wisdom of the world” or some other persons teaching.  They say: “I know what the scriptures say, but God wouldn’t just come to the Jews; oh no; He has revealed himself to the Hindus and the Buddhists and the Moslems and the Mormons and all the other peoples of the World in one way or another”.  They say that Christianity is just one of the ways God has revealed himself to mankind.  And so, these folks say that we should “look beyond” the parochialism of our own Faith and embrace the ultimate truth that integrates all these teachings together.   

But the simple fact is that God did chose to reveal the fullness of himself through His word, Jesus Christ, who became man, and lived as one of us.  He showed us through the Gospel legacy, how to live a life that pleases God by obedience to the will of the Father.  He suffered, died, and rose from the dead, appearing to his Apostles; and promised us everlasting life if we follow him.  And he left us a more refined glimpse of his true nature- the Trinity.  None of these other world religions offer all of that.  They may have a glimmer of the truth; but they are not the fullness of God’s revelation to us.  The pluralistic argument is the “Big Lie” that the devil hopes we will all accept because it leads people away from the truth.   

Today, we are called to defend our Faith by recognizing and ignoring the Big Lie; we are called to be Christians in Faith, Word, and Deed no matter what.