Goyim for God: A reformed Judaism, open to gentiles, like Paul wanted in the first place

A few weeks ago, the preacher at our church explained how some churches focus on God the Father, others on Jesus, and still others on the Holy Spirit. It's been impossible not to notice that in the past 10 years or so, our parish has become almost totally Jesus-centered.

I'm not thrilled with this development. I don't claim to be a professional theologian, but my study of Scripture, informed in part by my professional training and experience, has persuaded me that Jesus likely was 'just' a good Jew and a uniquely-gifted prophet, who might or might not have aspired to rescue the Jewish people from oppression and usher in God's reign.

A church of theists, not focused on Jesus' person, but grounded in his teachings — especially his emphasis on the Summary of the Law — might be pretty appealing. (I rule out the Unitarian Universalists here; from what I understand, the UUs are generally nice people but many of them look down their noses at theists.)

That kind of theistic church wouldn't be nearly enough for most Christians, of course. But Christian-church membership seems to have been dropping among educated people; more and more of them simply don't buy traditional orthodox dogmas.  Where Christian churches are thriving, there's reason to believe it's not entirely due to their orthodoxy. Look at the success of the prosperity-gospel megachurches, such as Lakewood here in Houston: Every time I've heard Joel Osteen preach, he's barely even mentioned Jesus; he certainly doesn't seem to anchor his message to any kind of christological foundation.

Church-wise, what might hit the sweet spot is some version of Reform Judaism that's open to gentiles, and that doesn't require a commitment to The Law (Torah) or 'naturalized' membership in the Jewish people; Goyim for God, if you will. 

But hold on — a reformed Judaism for gentiles?  That sounds vaguely familiar, doesn't it? 

Of course: it's approximately what St. Paul seems to have had in mind (go re-read, for example, his letters to the Galatians and to the Romans), before the church transformed his and Jesus' teachings into worship of the Teacher as God incarnate.

That's what the church needs, I submit: A return to putting God first, and not getting so wrapped up in Jesus.

Comments

[Lisa]

It seems to me the emphasis on Jesus first breaks the commandment to 'Have no other God before me.' It makes me uneasy sometimes.
I've often said to my husband that I feel Jesus would say, "No, no, no, you got it all wrong! Not me, God!"

[Fr Craig]

I tend to agree with this - I never have figured out what a 'close and personal relationship with Jesus as my savior' means. On the other hand, I take Jesus to be God incarnate, that is all of God's creative power and essence comprehensible to humankind, and thus I take Jesus to be the first of the New Humanity. Living like Jesus - a totally 'other-centered' life is only possible (in my view) if we can find a way to be free of fear, which is the root of all sin. In the resurrection, we have this path of freedom from fear opened to us. If Jesus is not resurrected, then yes, we are only reformed Jews (not that there's anything wrong with that!), but I believe that God wants us to be free of fear, trust God, and love each other. To me, that takes more than just theism.

[D. C. Toedt III]

Fr. Craig @ 09:15 am writes: "... a totally 'other-centered' life is only possible (in my view) if we can find a way to be free of fear, which is the root of all sin. In the resurrection, we have this path of freedom from fear opened to us."

I strongly suspect your first sentence is correct. But for the resurrection to open a path of freedom from fear, it seems to me we have to assess (as best we can) the reliability of the resurrection reports. That includes weighing other possible explanations for the phenomena that were interpreted and reported as resurrection.

[MSD]

What about the Noahide movement (or lack thereof)? Too simple, missing faith in God and missing tradition and rituals?