 | This articlemay containoriginal research. Pleaseimprove it byverifying the claims made and addinginline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.(January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Part ofa series on |
Jesuism (also spelledJesusism andJesuanism) is a belief system considering itself to be the true representation of the teachings ofJesus and contrasts itself from the teachings of mainstreamChristianity.[1] In particular, the term is often contrasted withPauline Christianity and the mainstream churchdogma ofNicene Christianity.[2][3] Adherents of the belief system may be termedJesuists (also spelledJesusists orJesuans).[4]
The termJesuism was coined in the late 19th century. It is derived fromJesus (Jesus of Nazareth) +-ism (English suffix, a characteristic or system of beliefs, from French-isme, Latin-ismus, Greek-ismos).[5][6]
In 1878,freethinker and formerShakerD. M. Bennett wrote that "Jesuism", as distinct from "Paulism", was the gospel taught byPeter,John andJames, and the Messianic doctrine of a new Jewish sect.[7] In 1894, Americanpathologist andatheist Frank Seaver Billings defined "Jesusism" as the "Christianity of the Gospels" and a philosophy which "can be attributed directly to the teachings of Jesus theNazarene".[8][9] In 1909, theSeventh-day Adventist newspaperSigns of the Times, released an issue titled "Modern Christianity Not Jesusism", wherein the question is posed: "Christianity of today is not the old original Christianity. It is not Jesusism, for it is not the religion which Jesus preached. Is it not time to make Christianity the religion which He personally preached and which He personally practiced?"[10] Harvard theologianBouck White, in 1911, also defined "Jesusism" as "the religion which Jesus preached".[11]Lord Ernest Hamilton in 1912 wrote that "Jesuism" was simply to love one another and love God.[12] The philosophy of Jesusism was described in the bookThe Naked Truth of Jesusism from Oriental Manuscripts,[13] penned by theologian Lyman Fairbanks George in 1914, as follows:
It is to restore Jesus's sayings to their original purity.
It is to eradicate from the Gospels the interpolations of the Middle Ages.
It is to relate the misconceptions revealed by recent archaeological research.
It is to present Jesus from an economic viewpoint.
It is to break through the spell spectral of Cosmic Credulity.
It is to toll the knell of schism through Jesusism.[14]
The Orthodox theologianSergei Bulgakov further noted in 1935 that "the concentration of piety on the Christ alone has become a deviation already known by a special term as Jesusism".[15] Influential Catholic theologianKarl Rahner referred to "Jesusism" as a focus on the life of Jesus and attempts to imitate his life, as opposed to a focus onGod or theChristian Church.[16] University of Melbourne professorLindsay Falvey noted in 2009 that "the gospel story so differs from Church doctrine that it could well be of a different religion – Jesusism".[17] Jesusism became the subject of increased academic discussion following its reference by Duke University neurobiologist and philosopherOwen Flanagan in his 2007 bookThe Really Hard Problem: Meaning in a Material World.[18] Flanagan defines Jesusism as the "message" of Jesus and notes that he "call[s] it 'Jesusism' because most Christian Churches do not endorse Jesus's message truthfully".[1] Flanagan characterized Jesuism as anaturalistic andrationalist philosophy, rejecting the conflict betweenfaith andscience.[19] Rodney Stenning Edgecombe, a professor at theUniversity of Cape Town, in a 2009 essay titledCommutation Across the Social Divide remarks how Christianity shifted away from Jesuism; the moral tenets Jesus preached.[20] The terms Jesuism, Jesusism and Jesuanism are also referenced popularly on religious blogs and internet groups.[citation needed]
There is no definitive meaning of Jesuism and hence no clearideology. Various groups use the terms Jesuism, Jesusism and Jesuanism. These include disenchantedChristians who are critical ofinstitutional religion orPauline Christianity, people who focus solely on the teachings of Jesus and not on the entire Bible, people who identify themselves asdisciples of Jesus rather than Christians, andChristian atheists who accept some of Jesus's teachings but do not believe in God. Adherents may be termed Jesuists, Jesusists or Jesuans.[4]
Paulinism versus Jesuism
Jesusism, which is Communism, and not Christianity at all as the world accepts it...Jesusism is unadulterated communism, with a most destructive anarchistic tendency
The Progress of Jesuism
Emphatically I affirm, not my belief, but my certain knowledge. There is no God
Jesusism, or the Christianity of the Gospels, which we think can be attributed directly to the teachings of Jesus theNazarene...There is but one standard to follow; that is, the utterances directly attributed to Jesus, particularly the celebrated Sermon on the Mount.
Jesuism
Christianity derives from the Greek adjective "christos" ("anointed")…This shifted focus fromwhat he preached (moral tenets that ought properly to be called "Jesuism") to what subsequent commentators, Paul of Tarsus among them, made of his violent death
| Chronology ofJesus's life |
|
|---|---|
| New Testament | |
| Historical Jesus | |
| Depictions | |
| Christianity | |
| In other faiths | |
| Family |
|
| Related | |
