Receptivity

“I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”   

 (The Gospel of Mark 10:15)

Grace:

The phrase “Kingdom of God” reverberates through Christian scriptures in the teachings of Jesus. Some Christians understand God’s kingdom to refer strictly to a heavenly realm beyond this earthly life; others understand it to refer also to an ideal state of being on this earth, in which human beings find union with God and one another.  In reading this text, I am struck especially by the simplicity of the verb receive. I recently heard someone of another faith tradition say that “One who cannot see God in all, cannot see God at all.” I suspect this is exactly what Jesus wanted his listeners to understand when he spoke of the need to be “born again” in order to receive the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)  How do your sacred scriptures invite you to see God and to receive God’s kingdom?

Yasmina:

In Islam the term “seeing God in others” is not used. Instead, Muslims recognize a person’s piety by how much their actions reflect their respect for God’s commands. This stems from the view that belief in God must be coupled with righteous deeds: “O mankind! We created you from a single [pair] of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other [not that ye may despise each other]. Verily the most honored of you in the sight of God is [he who is] the most righteous of you.” (al-Hujurat 49:13) As a Muslim, I view myself as a minute being in God’s kingdom, which encompasses the heavens, the earth and all that lies between them. I am reminded to always act with humility because achieving righteousness is a lifelong journey; only God can judge and invite whom He wills, with His grace and mercy, into the final abode of peace.

Tziporah:

To answer your question, Grace, I turn not to the “sacred scriptures,” but to the early rabbinic literature and the writings of Maimonides (1135-1204).  Many of Jesus’ parables about the kingdom of God have parallels in Jewish texts, which use this exact phrase, as well as the phrase olam ha-ba, “the world to come,” to refer to the messianic era. The rabbis of the Talmud suggest that all righteous people, including non-Jews who follow the Noachide Laws,[1] will inherit a portion in the world to come. In Maimonides’ lifetime, there was much controversy about whether olam ha-ba referred to an actual place in the physical realm.  In his treatise on the tenth chapter of Mishnah Sanhedrin, Maimonides describes the world to come as follows: “The Garden of Eden is a fertile place containing the choicest of the earth’s resources, numerous rivers, and fruit-bearing trees. God will disclose it to man some day. He will teach man the way to it, and men will be happy there.”[2] Jews are urged to be righteous and fulfill the commandments, not only to receive our portion in the world to come but also to live well in this world.

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[1] Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 56a

[2] Here is a link to a PDF translation of this work.

Who's In, Who's Out?

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

The Gospel of John 14:6

Grace:
These words of Jesus, so sacred to Christians, are often used as words of comfort at Christian funerals. Yet heard outside Christian tradition or misunderstood within it, they can be bitterly divisive, especially if they are interpreted to mean that non-Christians have no access to God or that only Christians who declare their faith in a certain way—using specific words or performing a specific ritual—are “saved.” In an earlier statement within this same biblical passage, Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.”[1] Later Jesus emphasizes once again that the Father dwells with those who “obey my teaching.”[2] Thus, as a Christian, I believe that I come to the Father through striving to live a Christ-like life, a life rooted in the sacrificial way of love—love without conditions and without exceptions.

Yasmina:

Muslims understand the way to God as a path, referred to in the Quran as the “straight way,” and defined as “the way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose portion is not wrath and who go not astray.”[3] God has shown this path to all of His prophets and messengers, including Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Jesus and finally Muhammad [Peace and Blessings be upon them all].  One reference to these honored prophets reads: “Those were some of the prophets on whom God did bestow His Grace, of the posterity of Adam, and of those who We carried [in the Ark] with Noah, and of the posterity of Abraham and Israel of those whom We guided and chose. Whenever the Signs of God Most Gracious were rehearsed to them, they would fall down in prostrate adoration and in tears.”[4] As a Muslim, I revere Jesus [Peace and Blessings be upon him] as the Messiah who was born of an immaculate birth. I follow the teachings of God in the Quran and I humbly strive to emulate the character of Muhammad [Peace and Blessings be upon him], who gave the perfect example for loving and serving God and His creation, and embodied the true meaning of Islam.

Tziporah: 

I admire Grace for choosing a challenging text, which she described as having been “used too often in terribly disparaging, exclusionary ways.”  It immediately brings to my mind the many times I learned that Judaism allows all people of faith entry to olam ha-ba, the world to come, provided that they uphold 7 basic laws.[5] This teaching was often invoked by Jewish Studies professors to demonstrate Judaism’s superiority as a universal and welcoming religion.  This assertion—that all religious paths are acceptable but only mine is the “truth”—has proven personally dissatisfying and, at times, destructive to relationships between people of different faiths. I can certainly appreciate how this idea originated with the early rabbis, perhaps in response to emerging Christian teachings that acceptance of Jesus was the only path to redemption.  I can also see why later rabbis perpetuated it through centuries of persecution and forced conversion of Jews to Christianity.  Nevertheless, I am uncomfortable with our apparent compulsion to declare ourselves and our beliefs as most right and exclusively true.  I pray that in the world to come, humanity will have evolved to accept the Baha’i teaching that all religions express a single Divine purpose[6] and serve as multiple paths leading to God’s presence in paradise.

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[1] The Gospel of John 14:2

[2] The Gospel of John 14:23

[3] al-Fatihah, 1:7

[4] Maryam, 19:58

[5] Jeffrey Spitzer's excellent explanation of Noahide Laws is at www.myjewishlearning.com.

[6] This is reflected in the Baha’i teaching of The Oneness of Religion.