God’s Intervention in History, part the 3rd and final
What was the nature of the change wrought by Jesus of Nazareth? The change was this: To those who believe in him, Jesus gives access to forgiveness of sins and to eternal life. Also, with his death and resurrection begins the Common Era , i.e., the current period when non-Jews who believe in Jesus share in the destiny of the Jews, God’s chosen people. (Read Letter to the Romans, chapters 9, 10, and 11). These two things accomplished, Jesus could say truly, “It is finished.”.
Except for the remaining decision by each individual as to whether to believe or not believe in Jesus, the work of salvation is finished. It is a centuries-long progression of history in this material world, a history which unfolded and continues to unfold in accordance within the will of God. Certain milestone moments stand out:
· the moment when, against all expectations, Isaac, son of promise, was born to old Abraham and old Sarah,
· the moment when, after realizing that his firstborn son was dead, Pharoah allowed the children of Israel to leave Egypt,
· the moment when the waters of the Red Sea engulfed Pharoah’s chariots and ensured the success of the exodus,
· the moment when the Blessed Virgin Mary said, “May it be done to me according to your word”,
· the moment when Jesus said, “My Father, . . not as I will, but as you will.”
Having worked through this history and having decided to accept Jesus as the son of God, what then does the seeker of truth do? It remains for him to seek always to discern God’s will. The seeker looks within himself, examines his thoughts, his motivations. The seeker uses all the new insights that human development has achieved through the centuries, the insights of physics and astronomy, the insights of mathematics, the insights of historical research and discovery, the insights of biology, psychology, and neuroscience. All these insights must then be used in conjunction with the insights of revelation as conveyed in scripture, the accumulated insights of the church as conveyed by the magisterium, and the insights of prayer, labored over in each seeker’s personal garden of agony, a laboratory of self-doubt, critical self-analysis, and ruthless honesty about motives, desires, and the capacity for self-deception.
It may sound quite grim, this “garden of agony”. It is the only laboratory of faith I have experienced thus far. But even now I begin to perceive weak rays of sunlight tentatively pushing their way through the windows of my soul. Near the end of this life, a life forced on me without my consent, I begin now to see life as perhaps a blessing, not the curse that for many years it seemed to be. I used to share the viewpoint of philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell, who wrote in amazement that some people counted it a blessing to have been born. But now I begin to understand that blessing. I make so bold as to believe, perhaps, that I am indeed born again, first of water at my baptism in 1955 when I was ten years old, and now more recently of spirit.
A few years ago I dreamt that I was working in a dark, cold, and damp basement. (In fact, that is where I am at this moment, as I write this.) In that dream, in the sunlight outside there were myriads of bright, warm, friendly, joyful people, prancing and dancing while I labored in the gloom of that basement. Yet my perception in the dream was that my subterranean labor was in some way contributing to the joy of those outside above ground. It was as if the work I was doing was for their sake, even though I had no idea in what way they would benefit from my work.
I interpret the dream to mean that my personal garden of agony, if I persist, will allow me to make some contribution to the happiness of those who in the dream seemed so distant, so different. This interpretation makes me feel good. Perhaps it only further feeds the delusions of grandeur which some have told I am prey to. But there is nothing ultimately wrong with perceiving my life in this way, so long as I do everything in the context of thankfulness and subordination to Jesus. If I ever realize my dream of benefitting other people, it will be because of the mercy of great Jesus, son of Mary, son of God, very God himself. May his name be forever praised. Amen.
January 5th, 2011 at 02:47
India Before Common Era (Before 684 B.C. Magadha Formation). Vedic Period. The Vedic period (or Vedic Age) is the period in the history of India …
Ah~I had known them, but I know its details, and the writer , can you tell me more about Common Era? Thank you!
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Vibram Five Fingers
January 5th, 2011 at 15:10
Hello, gossip1414
I must admit that I am not familiar enough with Indian history to explain how the Judeo-Christian “Common Era” relates to the Indian “Common Era”, but I will try to amplify on what I mean by the “Common Era” as referred to in my article. Let me begin by quoting from today’s Wikipedia article about the calendar:
BEGIN QUOTE: “Calendars in widespread use today include the Gregorian calendar, which is the de facto international standard, and is used almost everywhere in the world for civil purposes, including in the People’s Republic of China and India (along with the Indian national calendar). Due to the Gregorian calendar’s obvious connotations of Western Christianity, non-Christians and even some Christians sometimes justify its use by replacing the traditional era notations “AD” and “BC” (”Anno Domini” and “Before Christ”) with “CE” and “BCE” (”Common Era” and “Before Common Era”).” END QUOTE
This Gregorian calendar centers around the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in Israel about 2000 years ago. This calendar takes the year of Jesus’ birth as year 1, although current historical research now indicates that the date is probably only accurate within five or six years. In any case, you can see from the Wikipedia article that in some vocabularies “CE” and “BCE” have replaced “AD” and “BC”. Although Wikipedia implies that using “Common Era” and “Before Common Era” somehow distances the calendar from its Christian significance, I as a Christian believe that such usage magnifies (and properly so) the centrality of the mission of Jesus of Nazareth
To properly understand the term “Common Era”, it must be explained what is the “commonality” of which we are talking. What is shared in the Common Era that BEFORE the Common Era was NOT shared? Without attempting here to explain completely Jewish history and theology, let me summarize by saying that the Jewish scriptures present the idea that there is a god, that his name is Yahweh, that he is the only god, and that he has chosen the Jewish people for his own people, and that one day, through the Jewish people, a messiah, a chosen one, will come to earth. Through this Messiah, all nations of the earth will be blessed. When this extension of Jewish blessing to non-Jewish peoples, or “gentiles”, is accomplished, then will begin the Common Era when both Jew and believing gentile share Yahweh’s blessing..
Before the Common Era, Yahweh watched out only for the Jews. In the Common Era, Yahweh offers his blessings to Jews and gentiles. Today most Jews believe that the Messiah has not come. Christians, on the other hand, believe that Jesus of Nazareth is the promised Messiah, and that as a consequence, gentiles who accept Jesus as the Messiah now share the blessings Yahweh previously bestowed only upon the Jews . That is the commonality to which the phrase “Common Era” refers: an era when Yahweh no longer blesses only Jews, but blesses also gentiles.
Before the Common Era, the history of God’s relationship to man, which took place only between Yahweh and the Jews, was exclusive. It was as if the rest of human events, whether of Indians, or Chinese, or Americans, or Africans, or Europeans, took place outside the bounds of meaningful history. However, when Jesus came, Christians believe, the Common Era truly begins. The unfolding of history now includes the whole human race, all peoples.
I understand that this explanation is very particular to the Judeo-Christian viewpoint. This particularity is part of the uniqueness of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Certainly for this explanation of the phrase “Common Era” within the context of the Gregorian calendar, this is the only commonality which makes sense. The Gregorian calendar centers around the birth of Jesus Christ. Many alternative calendars with their own significant dates have been used and proposed. The choice of a date from which to number the years is arbitrary. Perhaps the world may one day adapt a different year 1 as the center of history. Then Christians will be forced to maintain on their own a parallel Gregorian calendar. In this they will be no different from today’s Jews, Muslims, and other peoples who continue to use their own calendars while the rest of the world uses the Gregorian. If the Gregorian calendar ever ceases to be the defacto world calendar, I will regret the loss of Jesus’ birth as the accepted center of the world’s history, but Jesus will remain the center of my life.
All the best to you, gossip1414. You are the first commentator on my blog, and I appreciate your interest. /s/Mark Bateman