Jesus the Guru

A recent series on Radio 4, 'In the Footsteps of Jesus', had as its final programme a review of the history and modern face of Christianity in India.

In the programme the presenter, Ed Stourton, went to an Ashram community in India, which began life as a psuedo-benedictine monastery. In the monastery almost all the images of Jesus are as a guru sitting in the lotus position. One of the monks described how he related to Jesus as a guru, a teacher, the greatest teacher of all. For their morning mass they also use Hindu-infused liturgy which depicts the whole of the Earth, the cosmos, also worshipping God. In the Eucharist they celebrate not only with bread and wine, but with flowers, another Hindu tradition.

The programme went on to interview an Indian theolgian about the validity of these Hindu-Christian fused disciplines. The scholar described how in the early church there were many 'Christologies' (doctrines or theories based on Jesus or Jesus's teachings) that were held simultaneously by different groups of believers. He also impotantly said that not one single 'Christology' can be universal, not one idea, theory, or depiction of Christ can be valid for all believers world-wide. However, this is very much what has happened in European history with the spread of Christendom across Europe and beyond since the time of Constantine.

So i guess i have a number of questions in response to all this:

Firstly, is all this Hindu-Christian fusion stuff valid as a way of practising the Christian faith?

Secondly, if it is, then this raises the important question of where we have got our image of Jesus (in our minds) from? I suspect for me that it has come from the teachings and practises of Evangelicalism that have formed the majority of my spiritual journey.

Thirdly, how do we begin to regain a picture of Jesus that is true to his person and character depicted in the Bible and other history, but that is also relevant and true in the community in which we find ourselves? What would Jesus be like in 21st Century Birmingham? How would he live out the values and principles he lived out in 1st Century Palestine?

My suspicion is that if 'the church' can begin to find this Jesus, then it will become much more relevant and attractive to the whole of society. In fact it may be the only way in which we can truly keep the character, person, and nature of Jesus alive.

I would be fascinated to hear some feedback...

The webpage of the programme can be found here.

T.

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