The Word

The Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things came into being through (the Word). What came into being through (the Word) was life, and the life was the light of all people. No one has ever seen God. It is (the Word) who has made (God) known.[1]

In much of today’s Christianity, the Word, or the Word of God, is assumed to refer to the Bible. It is common to hear something like, “The Bible is the spoken word of God,” or “The Bible is the infallible and inerrant word of God.” Even in the progressive church I attend one will sometimes hear after a scripture reading, “This is the word of God for the people of God,” to which the congregation responds, “Thanks be to God.” The implication is that the Bible was dictated by God (in English, no less) and so, as we read or listen to scripture being read we hear the words God would speak to us if God were to speak to us. Certainly, there is a sense that when we read scripture and other sacred texts that God is speaking to us, but not in the literal sense often assumed. Some people will even go so far as to say, “The Bible says it, so I believe it!”  

But nowhere in the Bible does it claim itself to be the written or inerrant or infallible word of God. Rather, it claims its contents were inspired by God, which is an entirely different notion. The passage that is often quoted in this regard is 2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” Most of us who believe in God are inspired by God in many different ways, as were the biblical authors, but that does not mean our words or works are God’s actual words or works. It means God stirred something in us that we attempt to embody in words or music or other tangible expressions. Those expressions, however, are necessarily colored by our personal experiences, biases, culture, etc., so inspired by God or not, they express the divine inspiration imperfectly at best. The other often misused word in the passage is useful – “(scripture) is useful for teaching…” not that it is determinative. It is a goad for thought-provoking consideration, something our Jewish brothers and sisters have understood and practiced for millennia.

Another common assumption about the Word of God is that it is Jesus of Nazareth. The Word of God, however, is the Christ – Spirit manifested in physical form. According to John’s gospel, the Word did not first appear 2000 years ago in the area of Galilee, as Jesus did, nor did it appear when the books of the Bible were canonized in the 4^th Century CE. Nor did it appear when the earliest books of the Bible were written, probably around 500 BCE. No, the Word of God was already present for all of that and has been present since Spirit first took on material form as an earthly creation. True, Jesus became One with the Christ, but they remain different expressions of that Oneness. Using the life and teachings of Jesus as our guide leads us to Oneness, too – Oneness with Jesus, with each other, with the Christ, and Oneness with God. Ultimately, we are One anyway, but we are not consciously aware of it. And it is the conscious expression of our Oneness that the life and teachings of Jesus lead us to.

When John 1:18 says “no one has ever seen God,” it refers to the fact that we cannot see Spirit, at least not with our physical eyes. It is only when spirit clothes itself in flesh and becomes tangible that we can see God, or an expression of God, which is present in everything in creation – even us. When a physical part of creation utilizes the bridge of conscious awareness to reunite its physical and spiritual natures, it manifests as the Christ. Until that time, it appears and behaves simply as another physical creation. The apparently magical, mystical powers that Jesus possessed, according to the gospel record, were a result of his attained enlightenment or his conscious awareness of his Oneness with God, symbolized as occurring at his baptism. Once he understood that he was an instrument that God could work in and through, and once he accepted the responsibility that comes with such an awakening, he manifested the ability to heal and to bring others to God. And that is our mission to, if we choose to accept it – healing and bringing others to God, including the outcasts, caring for the widows, children, and immigrants, and generally bringing God’s love and acceptance wherever we find it lacking.

This is the 40thin a series titled Crucifying Christianity, Resurrecting the Way.Life Notes are my explorations into mysteries that interest me. They are invitations for readers to explore more deeply into life’s mysteries. Engage with me or explore contemplative spiritual direction at ghildenbrand@outlook.com.

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[1] John 1:1,3-4,18