the truth in Christ has possessed the Church
Posted by greglarson in quotes at 10:07 am | 
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“The Church should proclaim its concept of God, as it has come to know God through Christ, to all people in society, including Muslims and Jews. This should be done unashamedly and uncompromisingly. The Church should insist on what God is really like - not in a spirit of superiority or condescension, but in humility and love. The Church must be conscious of its own failure in not living up to the responsibility of the knowledge of God that it has been given. It has not attained perfection, but still seeks a deeper understanding of God in Christ. It is not so much the Church that possesses the truth; rather, the truth in Christ has possessed the Church.”
- Naim Ateek — from Justice, and Only Justice: A Palestinian Theology of Liberation
9th of September, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Love that last sentence especially.
At the same time, the rest of the quote really depends for me on where he’s going with it. Is he saying we need to be starting on common ground with people of other religions in order to lead them to Jesus (for example, most Christian missionaries in Muslim countries refer to God as Allah, they just try to explain “the true Allah” as revealed among other things by his son Jesus)? Then I’m all for it.
But if he’s saying “let’s just make sure we can get people to understand who God is” as an end in itself, well, then I feel like he’s leaving Jesus out of the picture, who, if we’re honest, is himself the big offense to Jews and Muslims alike.
10th of September, 2007 at 10:02 am
John — nice hearing from you. I dont think that he is leaving Jesus out of the picture, because he begins the quote, and ends the quote with ‘Christ’. But I am surely not expert on this guy’s theology.
Hope you are well.
Greg
13th of September, 2007 at 11:07 am
yeah, I definitely see that and would agree. plus it’s always dangerous to draw any conclusions from short quotes.
In any case, as I said I LOVE the last sentence.
Doing great, thanks! It was cool to discover your blog.