Christian View

There are literally millions of people worldwide who have reactions such as I have outlined in the non-Christian View. christ2.jpg (12941 bytes)

There are also millions who have total faith in the divinity of Christ.

There is a need to clarify one's mind about this man Jesus.

If one's mind is not clear the celebration of anything to do with the life of Christ is meaningless.
    Even during what passes as a 'normal' Christmas (the birth of Christ! need I remind you?) there is a tendency to turn a wonderful, heart-warming party into a binge, an escape from everyday reality into a drink sodden saturnalia - possibly into sadness and despair if extended and merged into perpetual, mindless party-making. Too much partying can make you sick y'know! Did you not know that?
    Okay! A good-hearted person of no particular religious belief can enjoy the normal celebration of something meaningful: a child born, a happy moment of love, the anniversary of an enduring love, an ambition realised - or just the simple pleasure of being alive, celebrated in music and dancing.
    But all of these are passing events. One cannot grab and freeze them, or repeat them ad nauseum.   Undimmed joy is only felt when there is something new to celebrate, even if it is only the dawn of a new day. One can enjoy memories of past moments, but to feverishly try to recreate them, or to live only in remembrance, can be a trap - can be psychologically unhealthy. How often do we try to repeat an enjoyable experience only to find it turn to dust?
    Moments that are truly memorable are based upon love. This is what we are made for, to love - nothing is of value without love - and the greatest joy is to discover that we are made not just to love each other, or the world around us: we are made to love God, the source of all life and love.
    Nothing can compare to this realisation. It is a shattering discovery, full of challenge.
But how can we know more about God?
    Only God Himself can tell us more. Mere human speculation is not sufficient. The Christian believes that God has actually done this, introduced us to the living God in the Person of Jesus, offering us an eternal loving relationship.
If this is not so Christ is no more valuable than any other man. If it is so then he alone knows the intimate truth of God, in the glory of His innermost Being......
    Realisation of the divinity of Jesus is a direct gift of God, enlightening the mind and filling the soul with inexpressible joy, with a certainty that goes beyond reason but is fully in accord with it.
     No mere human love can compare. This is why we are created. We are made by God in His image and likeness, and our natural spiritual ability to know and love can be lifted to a new level by Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, sharing in his divine love for the Father in the mystery of the love that exists between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
    It is Christ who enables this, shares His divine life with us.
    This is the real and enduring cause for Christian celebration. It is a source of joy that is independent of any particular moment, millennium or otherwise. It is an abiding, continuous reality.
     In our rough and ready fashion we may fix upon a moment in time, and be wrong - as in the case of the birth of Christ, for it appears that he was born between three and seven years before the year erroneously designated as Anno Domini, the Year of the Lord. But the precise year or day does not matter greatly. It is the event that matters, not an evolving and inaccurate system of measuring time and fixing dates.
    Nevertheless, as we are a worldwide human family we need to feel that we are united in celebration so we designate particular days to mark special moments - even though it is affected by different time zones.
     The Christian believes that at Christmas and Easter we celebrate something of immense importance to all mankind. We devoutly hope that those who have not yet learned to believe will come to know the reason for our certain hope and tangible joy.
    Not every non-Christian holds the range of extreme views that I have caricatured under the heading "Non-Christian View"
     It is quite understandable that people may resent aspects of Christianity - mainly because of the attitudes of people who claim to be Christian.
     Throughout history Christians have shown an intolerance of other customs and beliefs. Modern Tele-evangelists are a sick, money-making joke, and on an individual basis most of us have met the fanatical believer who attempts to invade privacy and bludgeon into belief. We will be aware also of the actions of insane religious leaders, on the edges of Christianity, who brainwash the weak-minded and lead them into bondage, violence and blasphemous mass-suicide pacts. Such types - rich in biblical quotation and short on perception and tolerance - are obviously obnoxious and totally unacceptable as representatives of Christ.
    Mercifully these are fringe lunatics (duplicated in all other religions and regimes). Reason, understanding and love are also present, however, in the person of priests, religious brothers and sisters, lay volunteers and congregations, living and working for the good of people. In every part of the world there is a leaven of love and concern without which Christianity cannot exist. Mediaeval attitudes and irrational mediaeval crusades have long since disappeared.
    I would say then, to the good-hearted, natural millennium partygoer, and the good hearted person who doubts the divinity of Christ,

"Forget about millennium ballyhoo!
Forget about the party-going (once you have enjoyed a dram or two)!
Look to the man we know as Christ.
Examine him through the lives and writings of those who knew him personally and recorded their memoirs of the New testament
- and, take it easy! You can't get to know someone worthwhile in an hour, or a day. If Christ really is God he is definitely worth getting to know, and it takes time. So take it easy! The only pressure upon you is the need that we all share, to work diligently towards the truth.

Please remember, too, that it was Christ's love that lifted Peter out of the grief he experienced through cowardice and denial - and the same Christ who shattered the truculent, down-to-earth act of unbelief of Thomas the Doubter."

I may not have given you sufficient reason to join in millennium celebrations as a believing Christian, but I do hope that you will share in something of the joy that is on offer.