I want us to reclaim this word: salvation. The word has extraordinarily rich meanings: liberation from bondage, homecoming, life rather than death, sight to the blind, healing of the wounds of existence-and there are more.
Why have so many evangelists, including some of Rob's critics, jumped so strongly on this need for heaven and hell preaching to continue?
A lot of popular Christianity, these days, is fear-based religion. And it relates to a lot of American politics that is fear-based politics. I would wager that half of our population, or maybe more, lives in bondage to fear: financial fear, fear of terrorism, fear of the rest of the world, so many fears. Jesus taught that salvation means being liberated from fear. We don't help anyone by pushing forms of Christianity that brandish the fear of hell over people's heads.
When you describe the rich meanings of salvation, you're talking here about far more than a line or two from Jesus' preaching. These powerful meanings of salvation run through the whole Bible.
Yes, it's deeply rooted throughout the whole Bible. Salvation as liberation from bondage comes straight out of the story of the Exodus and the Exodus is the most formative event in ancient Israel's history. Then, probably the second event that most shaped the Jewish bible was the experience of exile in Babylon. That story of exile creates an understanding of salvation as return, reconnection and homecoming. Also, scattered throughout the Bible, you have images of salvation as having one's eyes opened. Jesus talks about this. There are other forms of salvation, too. In Psalms, salvation is primarily about deliverance from our enemies or deliverance from serious illness or from other threats like this. You know, the idea of salvation as just an afterlife, this heaven and hell framework, doesn't even appear in the Old Testament.
And, when we do get to the New Testament, salvation sometimes does mean an afterlife, but most of the time the word has these other meanings that run throughout the Bible.
This is a tough struggle. And it takes a lot of talented and courageous clergy and lay leaders and Bible study teachers.
It does. But, I don't want to see us give up this language that is so important to the meaning of Christianity and its message for our world. I want to help people reclaim it. When we truly understand some of these words I am describing in this book, it can bring us great joy and, with it, we find release from our fear and anxiety.
This article was originally published at www.ReadTheSpirit.com, an online journal covering religion and cultural diversity.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In