{"id":15302,"date":"2013-12-26T08:26:32","date_gmt":"2013-12-26T12:26:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/?p=15302"},"modified":"2013-12-26T08:32:18","modified_gmt":"2013-12-26T12:32:18","slug":"my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"my take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"uphill<\/a><\/p>\n

MY 2 DAY BOXING SALE 50% OFF ALL MY ART SHOP NOW<\/a>! (Use coupon code \u2018boxing\u2019.)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I moderate an online community called The Lasting Supper<\/a>. One of the things I do is send out a letter every week straight to the members\u2019 inboxes. I thought I would share last week\u2019s newsletter, which is basically my take on the Christmas story. Here it is:<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you remember that part in the movie\u00a0\u201cBraveheart\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0where William Wallace appears to a huge crowd of Scottish soldiers to lead them, but because they\u2019ve never met him before they doubt that it\u2019s him because they\u2019ve heard he is much taller and fiercer, and Wallace says something like,\u00a0\u201cYes, and he shoots fire out his arse as well!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0And they all laugh. Wallace heard of the legends already building around his reputation even while he was still alive.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Christmas\u00a0story wasn\u2019t written down until 60 or 70 years after it apparently happened. There were only stories circulating with perhaps a few scraps of papyrus, nicknamed \u201cQ\u201d. Imagine if we tried to give an\u00a0accurate account<\/strong>\u00a0of the second world war if we only had verbal stories and no surviving written documents! How many versions would be out there? How diversified would the story be? How historically accurate?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Christmas\u00a0story, as I understand, percolates down to\u00a0a few essential components<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. God\u00a0empties<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cGod\u201d of God<\/li>\n
  2. God\u00a0enters<\/strong>\u00a0humanity and becomes a man in the flesh<\/li>\n
  3. When this man dies the\u00a0Spirit<\/strong>\u00a0of God comes as promised<\/li>\n
  4. The universal\u00a0human collective<\/strong>\u00a0is where \u201cGod\u201d now is by the Spirit<\/li>\n
  5. God is now in\u00a0all things<\/strong>\u00a0reconciling all things to God.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If we can appreciate the\u00a0mythological<\/strong>\u00a0feel of this structure, we can also appreciate the deep truth that is expressed in it.<\/p>\n

    When I\u2019m asked if I believe there was a\u00a0real historical Jesus<\/strong>, at this point I say I believe there was a remarkable man who was an itinerant teacher that died for socio-political reasons and that his followers began to assemble stories, myths and legends around the man to show that he was not only a continuation of the Old Testament but also a radical departure from it.<\/p>\n

    I believe the man we call\u00a0Jesus was a revelation<\/strong>, lived it and taught it. I believe Jesus was a graphic rendering of the mystical truth that God is not in heaven on a throne, able and willing to rescue us. That idea had been thoroughly milked in the Old Testament and ultimately, I believe, failed. In fact, there were over 400 years of silence between last of the Old Testament writings and the beginning of the Christian era, a silence that I think symbolizes the silence one holds at a funeral for an idea of god that no longer worked.<\/p>\n

    Instead, the biblical account seems to say that Jesus showed, demonstrated, that\u00a0God is now with us and within us<\/strong>. Jesus himself is said to have promised the Spirit to come after he died, meaning that now, and finally, God is no longer located geographically, neither in heaven or in the temple or in Jerusalem or in one perfect man or in the church, but is a universal and personal presence in all things without exception.<\/p>\n

    That is\u00a0my\u00a0take\u00a0on the\u00a0Christmas\u00a0story. This is why I love it. The vast collection of wondrous stories all point to one remarkably simple but one devastatingly beautiful truth:\u00a0all this is what we call \u201cGod\u201d<\/strong>\u2026 you, me, the air we breathe, the environment, all things and the spaces between. I cannot point to God. Neither can I not point to God. All is all. All is. All!<\/p>\n

    And this is really good news.<\/p>\n

    Come and join The Lasting Supper!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    MY 2 DAY BOXING SALE 50% OFF ALL MY ART SHOP NOW! (Use coupon code \u2018boxing\u2019.) I moderate an online community called The Lasting Supper. One of the things I do is send out a letter every week straight to the members\u2019 inboxes. I thought I would share last week\u2019s newsletter, which is basically my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":349,"featured_media":15303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2905,2890,603,4088,722,4089],"class_list":["post-15302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cartoons","tag-baby_jesus_cartoon","tag-christmas_cartoon","tag-david_hayward","tag-jesus_cradle_cross","tag-nakedpastor","tag-uphill_from_here_cartoon"],"yoast_head":"\nmy take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MY 2 DAY BOXING SALE 50% OFF ALL MY ART SHOP NOW! (Use coupon code 'boxing'.) I moderate an online community called The Lasting Supper. One of the things\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"my take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MY 2 DAY BOXING SALE 50% OFF ALL MY ART SHOP NOW! (Use coupon code 'boxing'.) I moderate an online community called The Lasting Supper. One of the things\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"nakedpastor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-26T12:26:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-12-26T12:32:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/328\/2013\/12\/uphill.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Hayward\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Hayward\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/\",\"name\":\"my take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-26T12:26:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-12-26T12:32:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/b03e284877607fc17deb854c047e58d9\"},\"description\":\"MY 2 DAY BOXING SALE 50% OFF ALL MY ART SHOP NOW! (Use coupon code 'boxing'.) I moderate an online community called The Lasting Supper. One of the things\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"my take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/\",\"name\":\"nakedpastor\",\"description\":\"David Hayward: grafitti artist on the walls of religion.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/b03e284877607fc17deb854c047e58d9\",\"name\":\"David Hayward\",\"description\":\"David Hayward runs the blog nakedpastor as a graffiti artist on the walls of religion where he critiques religion\u2026 specifically Christianity and the church. He also runs the online community The Lasting Supper where people can help themselves discover, explore and live in spiritual freedom. gading88 gading 88 login togel sgp 2d togel sdy 2d gading88 daftar gading88 login togel taiwan 2d gading 88 games gading 88 gading88 slot Playz Store\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/niimi.5374.jp\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/author\/david\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"my take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross","description":"MY 2 DAY BOXING SALE 50% OFF ALL MY ART SHOP NOW! (Use coupon code 'boxing'.) I moderate an online community called The Lasting Supper. One of the things","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"my take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross","og_description":"MY 2 DAY BOXING SALE 50% OFF ALL MY ART SHOP NOW! (Use coupon code 'boxing'.) I moderate an online community called The Lasting Supper. One of the things","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/","og_site_name":"nakedpastor","article_published_time":"2013-12-26T12:26:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-12-26T12:32:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"640","height":"640","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/328\/2013\/12\/uphill.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David Hayward","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Hayward","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/","name":"my take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-12-26T12:26:32+00:00","dateModified":"2013-12-26T12:32:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/b03e284877607fc17deb854c047e58d9"},"description":"MY 2 DAY BOXING SALE 50% OFF ALL MY ART SHOP NOW! (Use coupon code 'boxing'.) I moderate an online community called The Lasting Supper. One of the things","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/2013\/12\/my-take-on-christmas-from-the-cradle-to-the-cross\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"my take on Christmas from the cradle to the cross"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/","name":"nakedpastor","description":"David Hayward: grafitti artist on the walls of religion.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/#\/schema\/person\/b03e284877607fc17deb854c047e58d9","name":"David Hayward","description":"David Hayward runs the blog nakedpastor as a graffiti artist on the walls of religion where he critiques religion\u2026 specifically Christianity and the church. He also runs the online community The Lasting Supper where people can help themselves discover, explore and live in spiritual freedom. gading88 gading 88 login togel sgp 2d togel sdy 2d gading88 daftar gading88 login togel taiwan 2d gading 88 games gading 88 gading88 slot Playz Store","sameAs":["http:\/\/niimi.5374.jp\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/author\/david\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/nakedpastor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}