"Born again" & "born from above" BLOWN ALL OUT OF PROPORTION by "Evangelicals."

Nirvana

from St. John's Gospel, CHAP 3:

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ 3Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ 4Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ 5Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

In a recent post I wrote that the “Evangelicals” seem to be interested more in obeisance to the Old Testament’s harsher God than in the message of the Lord Jesus, which can be found in a red-letter edition of the Bible. One exception: the idea of being born again, which idea can clearly be attributed to Jesus. Classically, this has been interpreted by Christians as being baptized. That’s good enough for me.

Last night HBO aired its premiere showing of FRIENDS OF GOD: A ROAD TRIP WITH ALEXANDRA PELOSI. These “Evangelicals” (I put the word in quotes because I can’t agree to call them what they call themselves, since I don’t see them as promulgating anything like “good news.”) are more into emotion than into reasonableness and openness.

Monsignor R. A. Knox wrote a book, a real Classic, ENTHUSIASM: A Chapter in the History of Religion (1950), in which he outlined in great detail this development of the perceived importance of the outward display of emotion. It all began with the Montanists (Do a Google search!). AnyWHO, ENTHUSIASM is a well-written, delightful, and fun book to read.

I’ve posted a Michael Molinos thread in this Jesus and Buddha forum to draw attention to a diametrically opposed style of belief and practise: Quietism or Mysticism —not too unlike Buddhist and other Eastern “tendencies,” for lack of a better word.

I'm sorry if I'm not being too kind to the "Evangelicals" here. It's just that I wonder WHAT WOULD JESUS THINK?

Oversimplification of complex Truths
Is Falsification.
— Quoting Myself

Magwang

After spending a year with the Salvation Army, it was pretty obvious what role emotion plays with evangelicals. I would try to breath peacfully during services while others pumped themselves up into ecstacy. The constant praise goes on and on....reminded me of the scene in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life where a pastor played by Michael Palin says "Oh Lord, thou are so incredibly huge...."