Every
college has its memorable professors whether they are quirky, funny, or
profound. Sometimes they are all of the above. One such professor taught
Religion at Sewanee and his name is Dr. Gerald Smith.
Smith—as
most students referred to him—wore a tattered old teaching gown that barely
held together, as he went on long tangents. Long ago—back in the early 2000s—Dr.
Smith had the harebrained idea to get rid of all paper from his classes, which
elated many of his text-book hating students. While there were still written
assignments, one would read on his or her own to acquire the requisite sources,
then email a paper to Dr. Smith. Before each class Dr. Smith wanted students to
also email him questions or comments that they found interesting and pertinent
to the day’s topic—most of the time the day’s conversation or lecture emanated
from one of those emails. In one of those very conversations during Smith’s New
Religions class I found myself completely blown away.
This
New Religions class focused on the zany pseudo-religions that have originated
over the last three hundred or so years. As we discussed everything from the
Oneida Community to the Latter Day Saints to Scientology, one day I found
myself grasping onto a common thread that wove them all together. In each of
these religious organizations there was a fee to pay, a checklist to follow, or
a fickle leader to placate. In other words, none of these new religions emanated
from grace. Of course, even though these were new religions there was nothing
new about that aspect of them.
At
the start of the 200s the followers of Christ were beginning to gain traction.
The integrity of their beliefs, actions, and worship meant that even in the
face of persecution many in the Early Church kept the faith, which made a real
impression on others. At the same time Christians were struggling to come to a
consensus over the nature of God—the foundational theology of Christianity. One
question came to a head in the heart of the Second Century: How can a perfect
being (i.e. God) produce an imperfect world (i.e. Earth)?
One
side thought that the world was God’s united Creation as spirit and matter are
one, while another group believed that the world was full of dualistic forces.
The latter group were the Gnostics. They saw the world through the lens of
opposing forces, like good vs. bad, light vs. dark, spirit vs. matter. On the
surface this does not sound problematic; however, digging deeper Gnostics also
held a belief that stated Jesus did not actually suffer, for he was actually
just made of all spirit and no flesh. According to them he was like a holy
hologram. Tied to the shoddy belief system of Gnostics was the way they
practiced their spirituality.
Gnostics
believed that God was perfect and the world imperfect, so how did the world
come into being? According to Gnostic theology, God created a creature called
an AEon, which created another AEon and another and on and on until there were
30 of these AEons. The last AEon created the earth. Even though this belief
sounds outrageous, what stands out even more was the elitist spirituality they
followed.[1]
Gnostics thought that Jesus had come to teach two separate doctrines one for
the common person and another for the elite. Gnostics were the only ones who
could get the secret knowledge, thus they had all the control of this exclusive
spirituality. One man born in the Second Century could not stand for this exclusive
type of Christianity and thus stood up to the Gnostics.
Irenaeus
of Lyon, whom we celebrate today in the Church, observed this elitism and spent
his life preaching against a belief that Christ’s full message was restricted
to those with wealth, power, or resources. Whether we are speaking of modern
elitism within religion, which requires one to pay top dollar to move up the
spiritual ranks or the Gnostics of old, we must be like Irenaeus and stand up
for not just freedom of religion, but also a religion that teaches that God’s
grace is free to all.
Irenaeus,
never one to hide away the light of Christ within him, exemplified three
particular ways for us to share God’s message of love to all. Irenaeus preached
that all churches regardless of where they were existed as part of the Church
catholic. He believed that the message of the People of Israel was sacred and
built the foundation for Christians, and that Christians’ task was (and is) to
share the truth of God’s love with all people wherever they were. Finally, his
message pointed to the Truth that Jesus came not to form an elite religion, but
to free all people to serve God and one another.
We
too believe that God loves all of us. We believe that Jesus came for all
people. We believe that he came to lead all people into love. We must not
charge people to practice spirituality, nor can we create a religion based on
elitism. For God’s love may be priceless, but it is free for all to receive. And
while walking the way of Christ requires one’s entire life, God makes that way
available to all. Let us be like Irenaeus who lived his life to show that God
freely loves us all.
[1] Kiefer, James. IRENAEUS. April 30, 2016. http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Irenaeus.htm (accessed June 28, 2017).
