Richard Rohr se dwaling van die Kosmiese Christus

Richard Rohr, bekende skrywer en Fransiskaanse priester, hang die idee van die “kosmiese christus” baie sterk aan. Hier is sy siening oor wat die “Christus” beteken:[1]

“What the Christ means is the confluence of divinity and physicality, spirit and matter. When the material and spiritual worlds coexist, we have Christ.”

Hy gaan haal die Skrif aan vir sy verdere uitbreiding van die gedagte van Jesus se salwing as Christus en maak dit nie net op Jesus nie, maar ook op ons, trouens op die hele skepping, van toepassing:

“The book of Acts says God has raised up Jesus and anointed him as the Christ. Our new awareness of the cosmos’ vastness and unimaginably ancient history is forcing us to rehear those scripture texts. It’s exciting good news. The Jesus we now have, the Jesus we participate in, are graced by, are redeemed by, is the risen Christ, the eternal Christ. The word “Christ” means “the anointed one,” and that anointment by God includes us and all of creation.”

Dit is baie duidelik dat hy die historiese Jesus verskillend en los sien van die konsep christus. Hy sê dit soos volg:

“The Gospels are about the historical Jesus. Paul, however, whose writings make up a third of the New Testament, never talks about that Jesus. He is talking about the Christ. Jesus is the microcosm; Christ is the macrocosm. There is a movement between the two that we ourselves have to imitate in our life and walk, the resurrection journey.”

Ek verwonder my aan die man se skrifuitleg hier, wat net weereens die gevolge van ‘n verdraaide Skrifbeskouing uitwys. Natuurlik word die verlossingswerk heeltemal op die agtergrond geskuif deur wat hy noe die wonder van die Inkarnasie. Bethlehem is belangriker as Golgota. Klaarblyklik is die inkarnasie klaar redding, want onthou dat die konsep “christus” is die vermenging van goddelikheid en materie, en dit is wat gebeur het by die Inkarnasie.

“The real trump card of Christianity is not just that we believe in God. The mystery we are about is much more than that: It’s that the material and the spiritual coexist. It’s the mystery of the Incarnation. Once we restore the idea that the Incarnation means God truly loves creation then we restore the sacred dimension to nature. We bring the plants and animals and all of nature in with us. They are windows into the endless creativity, fruitfulness and joy of God. We assert that we believe in the sweep of history, humanity and all of creation that Christ includes. Incarnation is already redemption. Bethlehem was more important than Calvary. It is good to be human. The Earth is good. God has revealed that God has always been here.”

Hieroor moet net gesê word dat die Skrif juis duidelik wys dat Betlehem nie sonder Golgota kan nie, want Golgota was die einddoel daarvan. Verder is die Inkarnasie nie een of ander metafisiese affêre nie. Ons praat mos maar van die geboorte van Christus en skroom nie om die goddelike én menslike kante van sy aarde lewe te beklemtoon nie. Hy was immers God en mens tegelyk! Dit wil voorkom asof Rohr ‘n dieper, mistieke, esoteriese betekenis agter die Inkarnasie plaas as wat die Skrif self wil sê daaroor. Laat staan nog die betrokkendheid van plant en dier en gogga en slak en vis en mens in die proses.

oor die opstanding is hy van dievolgende oortuig:

“Resurrection fits into this shift in point of view beautifully and necessarily. Jesus died, Christ arose. That’s precisely what the transformation is — Christ’s consciousness untied from a specific place and time.”

Let op die verdeling tussen die aardse, historiese Jesus en die mistieke christusbewustheid. Hierdie gedagte van die opstanding het natuurlik die effek dat ons nou kan terugbeweeg en die kosmiese christus kan leer ken:

“Start with Jesus then we know what the heart of God is like. Then we can move backwards to the cosmic Christ who exists from the beginning. Then we live in a coherent universe where there is no division between the natural and the supernatural. That’s the unique message of Christianity, that there is nothing God is not available to.”

Hierdie taal is deurspek van panteïsme. Hy gaan verder oor die ontstaan van die kosmiese christus:

“‘From the beginning’ means from the time of the Big Bang 14 billion to 15 billion years ago. Duns Scotus said the first idea in the mind of God was the Christ, and what the Christ means is the confluence of divinity and physicality, spirit and matter. When the material and spiritual worlds coexist, we have Christ.”

Hy weerspreek homself hier, want aanvanklik het hy gesê “All speak of Christ existing from all eternity” (All verwysende na Johannes en Paulus), en nou het christus wel ‘n beginpunt, met die Big Bang toe goddelikheid en materie ontmoet het.

Die praktiese implikasie vir die mens loop duidelik langs die weg van eenwording en identifisering met die New Age konsepte wat hy voorhou:

“Everything that happens to Jesus must happen in our individual souls as well. The Incarnation means the divine indwelling is not out there, over there. It happens within us. This movement from Jesus to the Christ means that the same anointing that was given to Jesus is given to all of us. That’s why he didn’t say, ‘Worship me.’ He said, ‘Follow me.’

Also Jesus didn’t move from Jesus to the Christ without death and resurrection. And we ourselves don’t move from our independent, historical body to the Christ consciousness without dying to our false self. We, like Jesus himself, have to let go of who we think we are, and who we think we need to be. We have to become the naked self before the naked God. That will always feel like dying. We need to know, experientially, that naked, undecorated self is already and forever the beloved child of God. Jesus’ life is also our life.”

Hy interpreteer nogals die wederkoms van Christus onbybels. Kyk wat sê hy wat dit inhou:

“We’ve turned Christianity into that evacuation plan for the next world. The term “cosmic Christ” reminds us that everything and everyone belongs. We’re all unworthy but the mystery of the Incarnation means the divine indwelling is in all of us. We’re indeed the body of Christ. God’s hope for humanity is that one day we will all recognize that the divine dwelling place is all of creation. Christ comes again whenever we see that matter and spirit coexist. This truly deserves to be called good news.”

Dit is so duidelike soos daglig dat Richard Rohr nie die Jesus van die Skrifte ken en verkondig nie, maar ‘n ander, vreemde jesus wat met die redding van die mens van sy sonde niks te make het nie. Ek loop hierdie volgende lied raak met die titel “Prayer of the Cosmic Christ”. Mag ons onsself bewaar van hierdie uiterste godslaterlike hantering van God se Woord. Dit begin met die Onse Vader soos ons dit ken, maar daar eindig dit nie. Lees die woorde en plaas dit oor wat Rohr te sê het oor die kosmiese christus konsep, en jy sal sien waarheen sy duiwelse leer oor christus oppad is met die wat sy werke navolg en opslurp soos soetkoek.

Luister na die lied:

Luister na ‘n onderhoud met Rohr oor die kosmiese christus.