Jesus: An historical figure, too
Posted in LFA Flashback by R Lee Wrights on December 22nd, 2009 by Roderick T. Beaman
Another holiday season is upon us and, I can just see the lawsuits materializing against various towns, cities and municipalities over an improper display of a nativity scene.
Of course, they will be driven by various civil liberties organizations such as People for the American Way and the American Civil Liberties Union (both of them misnomers at all levels). The grounds for these lawsuits will be that they represent an unconstitutional endorsement of religion by government. The people behind them are evidently as ignorant of history as they are of the underlying spiritual assumptions behind the principles of this republic.
Jesus Christ did exist and he is the central figure of Western Civilization. This one single man has had more effect on our way of life than any other person. Impact is a much overused word but if anyone has had an impact on our history, it is Jesus Christ. Indeed, a full understanding of Jesus’ importance goes a long way toward understanding our entire culture and all the events both before and since his birth.
An overwhelming majority of Europeans and Americans accept Jesus as the Messiah. Those who do not believe he was the Messiah, accept his importance and that his teachings are correct. Although that acceptance has often divided our people, the belief in a Messiah is unique to the Judaeo-Christian culture. No other religious tradition has this as a core belief and that has profoundly influenced our existence.
The wars of Europe have been between nations divided by the understanding of our relationship with God through Jesus. That difference had contributed to the antagonisms between those nations though there were other factors, as well. Jesus would not have liked it but it is true.
The colonization of the Americas, Africa and Asia was often legitimized by the pretext of bringing Christ to non-believers. The explorers were drawn by numerous other lures such as gold, silver, jewels and spices but Christianization helped justify the ventures and accelerate their happenings. If the exploration and development of the New World had been delayed twenty or even ten years, the United States may not have had the industrial might to defeat the anti-Christ, Hitler.
Jesus is commemorated in our arts as no other person. The events of his life have been the subjects of innumerable paintings and sculptures, both major and minor, that are among our greatest artistic achievements. No season is more associated with music than Christmas. Interestingly, some of the greatest Christmas music has come from Jews. Irving Berlin wrote ‘White Christmas’. Neil Diamond’s version of ‘O Holy Night’ is masterful and imbued with a reverence and passion that is surpassed, in my judgment, by only Luciano Pavarotti’s and Mahalia Jackson’s. Barbara Streisand’s and Leonard Bernstein’s Christmas albums are treasures and Bernstein’s Judaism did not stop him from composing the symphonic masterpiece, ‘The Mass’, based upon the Roman Catholic Mass which celebrates the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ.
We enshrine the great figures of our history with statues, paintings, pictures and excerpts of their greatest sayings. Some had religious backgrounds, notably Martin Luther King, Jr., the legitimacy of whose work was enhanced due to his religious training. There have been many others. Across from the United Nations in New York City is the ’swords into plowshares’ quote from the bible carved into a marble edifice on an outside staircase. Religion is central to our entire culture.
Jesus was a religious figure but he was an historical figure as well. He permeates our heritage. Acknowledgment of him is not an endorsement of a religion but a testament to his importance to our society and no one was more important, not George Washington, not Thomas Jefferson, not James Madison. The influence of all the Founding Fathers combined, along with all of the other figures of history, pales next to that of Jesus Christ. He deserves recognition in our nation and our halls of government and perhaps, not limited to Christmas time. Year round, we should commemorate the other central figure of our heritage, another Jewish man, Moses. The circle would then be complete. The torch passed from the central figure of Judaism to the central figure of our civilization. And if some from another civilization object, then they can seek out a culture with which they are more comfortable. This is ours and from it has sprung an entire philosophy, including our theory of government, that has enabled us to rise to the position of dominance that we now hold. That’s a fact and the argument ends there.
Originally published in Liberty For All November 19, 2002.
Ryan said,
December 28, 2009 @ 6:16 pm
There is 0 secular writings of Jesus during the time he was walking the earth. Love the blog but religion is a scam. Believing in god is just like being ruled by a North Korea in the sky.