The early Christians spoke a lot about it, so maybe we should focus on it. We (Muslims and Christians) can (and probably will) disagree until the end of time about the nature of Jesus, but what does it mean to be 'in Christ' ?
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Islam which says Jesus is the Messiah, 'the spirit / word of God' who will come again at the end defines excellence as 'worshipping / living as if you see God, and if you can't do that to remember that God is watching everything'. It is an intensely moral definition, while at the same time openly encouraging a mystical approach to life. As Jesus is the spirit / word, one can assume he was living and worshipping in this excellent manner. By investigating what this means, we can shed light on his nature and, by extension what it means to be 'in christ.'
The idea of 'being made in the image of God' is a powerful one in Judaeo Christian faith. It was said to be true of Adam, but. .. Adam means earth.
To return to the initial point about the nature of Christ perhaps it is inevitable that a man who lived from such a state as this, and who inspired the same in his immediate followers should be likened to God. But this is going too far. As Jesus himself says 'who are you calling good, only one is good.' But really the problem stems from the nature of ultimate reality, about which one can say very little without risking being misunderstood.
.....
Islam which says Jesus is the Messiah, 'the spirit / word of God' who will come again at the end defines excellence as 'worshipping / living as if you see God, and if you can't do that to remember that God is watching everything'. It is an intensely moral definition, while at the same time openly encouraging a mystical approach to life. As Jesus is the spirit / word, one can assume he was living and worshipping in this excellent manner. By investigating what this means, we can shed light on his nature and, by extension what it means to be 'in christ.'
The idea of 'being made in the image of God' is a powerful one in Judaeo Christian faith. It was said to be true of Adam, but. .. Adam means earth.
To return to the initial point about the nature of Christ perhaps it is inevitable that a man who lived from such a state as this, and who inspired the same in his immediate followers should be likened to God. But this is going too far. As Jesus himself says 'who are you calling good, only one is good.' But really the problem stems from the nature of ultimate reality, about which one can say very little without risking being misunderstood.
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