"Ebionite" faith

[steveb1]

This may take some unpacking

I'm writing simply out of enthusiasm, with no intent to start a debate about Jesus' nature or Trinitarianism.

Also, I'm writing out of a Buddhistic context, but did not post this to the Buddhism thread because it's not chiefly about Buddhism.

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By "Ebionitism", I mean ancient "Jewish Christianity" generally, considered as a loosely bound cloud of early, monotheistic christologies whose main features are:

Jesus was a mortal human being, not ontologically "God".

Jesus was born of human parents by natural means.

Jesus was a man on whom the Spirit (or the Word or the Heavenly Adam/Adam Kadmon) "descended" at his baptism.

Jesus was the martyred prophet and agent of God's Kingdom on earth, who God raised from the dead.

Jesus was adopted by God at his baptism - and his adopted sonship was "sealed" by his resurrection.

In addition to this Jewish "high" christology, the Ebionite view also included a "very high" christology, in that it admitted of a non-Trinitarian type of Incarnation.
That is, instead of mainstream Christianity's incarnation of the Trinitarian Son, Ebionite christology holds that the Adam Kadmon, the Spirit, the Heavenly Messiah, the Son of Man, entered into the prophet Jesus, thus making him "divine" - but not God Himself.

Ebiionitism also holds that all believers have been anointed with "the same chrism" as had Jesus. Thus, Jesus' disciples are also "Anointeds" or "Christs". This happens to have some resonance with the Johannine Jesus' prayer that we all "may be One, even as You [Father] and I are One".

Ebionitism claims that the transcendent, heavenly Christ appears as needed, or as God wills, throughout the ages. Jesus was thus one instantiation of the manifestation of the heavenly Christ (as well as being the most righteous human prophet). As such, his appearance was the unique manifestation of the messianic Kingdom-agent and predicted Prophet Like Moses.

But why bring this up at all, if I am a Buddhist? Here's the unpacking:

Mahayana Buddhism holds that each of us has Buddha Nature. Ebionitism claims that we have a Christ nature which is "sparked" by relationship with God through Jesus. Just as the Buddhist aspirant "becomes Buddha", so too the Ebionite aspirant becomes an "Anointed".

Mahayana Buddhism holds that cosmic Buddhas manifest in time and space throughout the ages, just as is said of the heavenly Christ in Ebionitism.

One positive attribute of Ebionitism is that it is a "single mediation" system. That is, grace flows from the Absolute directly to the aspirant, sometimes refracted through the prism of the manifesting heavenly Christ. A similar thing can be said of Mahayana Buddhism: enlightenment flows directly from the Dharmakaya directly to the aspirant, sometimes refracted through the prism of Buddhas manifesting in the world.

Moreover, Ebionite christology emphasises Jesus' righteousness and holiness as factors in his adoption as son by God. This makes Jesus' life meaningful as something we too can aspire to, in the sense that Jesus was a human being who underwent a spiritual transformation. If Jesus is God, then his life becomes too much an example of "E.T. and his Adventure on Earth", and no real transformation could occur in that scenario. Again, this has Buddhistic resonance, in the sense that Siddhartha Gotama was a human being who underwent a spiritual transformation.

Thus, as a Buddhist, I regard Jesus as a kind of Hebrew bodhisattva, who emptied himself for the sake of the Absolute and the Kingdom. If I were to enter any branch of the stream of Christian tradition, I would probably do so under the Ebionite umbrella.

[FmrMarine]

My head hurts.

[Shoes]

i have to say, the those similarities are astounding. i read a lot of the i Ching [took a pretty cool class while getting my masters]

next on my reading list is Buddism: The Essence. i need a starting point, so to speak, and it looks like an informative read [but managable in size] any suggestions for further reading would be welcome.

[steveb1]

(05-03-2012 07:06 AM)Shoes Wrote:  i have to say, the those similarities are astounding. i read a lot of the i Ching [took a pretty cool class while getting my masters]

next on my reading list is Buddism: The Essence. i need a starting point, so to speak, and it looks like an informative read [but managable in size] any suggestions for further reading would be welcome.

Thanks for your reply - I hope you enjoy your new Buddhism book