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supposedly classless society was set
up according to a rigid and unforgiv–
ing hierarchy."
While Jim Jones was later re–
vealed to be an ecclesiastica l charla–
tan, he was more or less typical of a
whole genre of "charismatic" reli–
gious leaders who, through fear and
intimidation, mesmerize the ignorant
into submission.
"It
was as if all the
zany st rains of do-it-yourself religion
and personality-cult salvation that
bave buil t up in America bad sud–
denly erupted witb gbastly force,"
continued the
Newsweek
report.
The principies upon wbicb Jones
founded his sect were apparently al–
truistic and seemingly noble. Like
most cults, the People's Temple
started out idealistically. But some–
tbing went wrong. Tbrougb his "mes–
sianic mix of religion and ha tred"
Jones carved out an ecclesiastical
empire based, in the final analysis,
upon fea r . Things became twisted.
Fear took over and dea th followed.
"Fear," wrote Bertrand Russell,
"is the parent of cruelty, and there–
fore it is no wonder if cruelty and
religion have gone hand in hand. "
The Real Danger
To a degree Russell was right. But
Russell, because of bis disillusion–
ment with organized religion, threw
out the baby with the bathwater. He
became a much-celebrated atheist.
And that 's the real danger of fear
religion!
How many mill ions of potential
Christians have been "turned off'' reli–
gion by exposure to the bloody facts of
ecclesiastical history? How many
have pointed to the senseless Cru–
·sades, the c ruel and inhuman abuses of
the Inquisit ion, and to the violence of
the Protestant Reformat ion as evi–
dence·that religion is a source of end–
less pain and suffering? And yet all of
these damnable events were carried
out in religious zeal-in the hope of
gaining ground and converts to
"Christianity"!
·
However, as the apostle Pa ul
might have put it, it was zeal, "but
not according to knowledge" (as in
Romans 10:2)-a misguided zeal
which has resulted in the torture,
maiming and murder of millions. For
though the Inquisitors thought they
28
were "saving souls from damnation"
by torturing people into confessing
Christ, for every forced "disciple"
they made, they undoubtedly alien–
ated thousands frqm at Jeast their
brand of Christianity!
Fear and hatred have besmirched
"Christ ian" religious communities
for centuries. And our day still wit–
nesses the rise, and the fall, of move–
ments, sects, cults and churches
founded upon fear and exclusivism,
which appropriate the name of Jesus
Christ to control the minds of men.
Such religion is clearl y
not
of
Christ!
The true God of real Christianity
is the God of the New Testament
whom Jesus carne to reveal (Mat–
thew 11:27; Luke 10:22), because the
real nature of God was not under–
stood in Old Testament times.
The God of Jesus
What kind of a God did Jesus reveal?
When His disciples asked Jesus to
show them the Father, He pointed
out that if they had seen Him (Je–
sus), t hey had, in effect, seen the
Father because " I and my Father are
one" (John 10:30) .
Was He a harsh, brutal, cosmic
"hanging judge"? A divine monster
capable of unreasonable wrath and
incredible vindictiveness?
Not at all. Yes, God would punish.
Yes, God would have vengeance
upon His enemies. Yes, God .would
be vindicated in the final analysis.
But Jesus also taught that to see
Him,
to know
Him,
was to know His
Father.
In short , we understand God by
understanding and perceiving Christ!
Jesus is His Father's Son in every
sense of the term. He was a fai thful
Son in whom God "was well
pleased." He reflected perfectly the
sterling qualities of character dis–
played by His divine parent. To know
Jesus is to know
God!
Jesus was not vindictive. He never
required a "pound of flesh." He was
not out for blood. He wished the·suf–
fering of no man. He was neither
condemnatory nor judgmental. To a
woman taken in the very act of adul–
tery He said, "Neither do
J
condemn
thee: go, and sin no more" (John
8:11 ). He was accepting, loving, con-
stantly "moved with compassion"
(Matthew 9:36; 14:14; Mark 6:34).
His great abiding commandment
was to love- unconditionally and in
any and all c ircumstances. This was to
be the greatestsignofa trueChristian:
" By tbis a ll men will know thatyou a re
my disciples, if you have love for one
another" (John 13:35, RSV).
He "taught them as one who had
authority" (Matthew 7:29, RSV)–
that means He knew what He was
talking about. ( It doesn't mean He
yelled, screamed, and pounded His
scroll!)
To tbe weak and burdened, Jesus
said, "Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and
1
will
give you
rest"
(Matthew 11:28). He
said nothing of vengeful fea r. He did
not threaten or intimidate. He was
meek, and rode into Jerusalem, not
with a show of power, pomp and cir–
cumstance, but on an ass-the bum–
b1estof animals (Mattbew 21 :5).
He made no attempts to overcom–
pensate so He could somehow
"prove" His masculinity, yet that
didn't make Him effeminate in any
way. He was simply a natural, una f–
fected, tenderhea rted man. Yet He
was a lso God in the flesh. And in
Him could be viewed a perfect reflec–
tion of the character of God the Fa–
ther.
Jesus and Hell
It is quite true that Jesus spoke of a
real hellfire. He spoke of a tire tbat
would burn up the incorri gibly
wicked . But He did not imply it
would be the fa te of
most
of man–
kind! He was not constantly scream–
ing, "Hellfire and damnation! Re–
pent or you'll fry in hell for all eter–
nity!" Neither did He proclaim,
"Give your heart to the Lord and
your pocketbook to the preacher and
ye shall be saved!" This was
not
the
message of Jesus, even though He
spoke clearly both of bell (the Bible
kind, not the kind that is commonly
but erroneously believed in) and of
repentance.
Jesus brought a positive message
of a coming Kingdom that would one
day encompass the earth. He spoke
of a time when the Spirit of His
Father would be poured out on the
nations- a message prefigured by
The
PLAIN TRUTH June·July 1979