PAPER 159: Section 5.
The Positive Nature Of Jesus' Religion
P1769:3, 159:5.1 At Philadelphia, where James was working, Jesus taught the disciples about the positive nature of the gospel of the kingdom. When, in the course of his remarks, he intimated that some parts of the Scripture were more truth-containing than others and admonished his hearers to feed their souls upon the best of the spiritual food, James interrupted the Master, asking: "Would you be good enough, Master, to suggest to us how we may choose the better passages from the Scriptures for our personal edification?" And Jesus replied: "Yes, James, when you read the Scriptures look for those eternally true and divinely beautiful teachings, such as:
P1769:4, 159:5.2
"Create in me a clean heart, O Lord.
P1769:5, 159:5.3
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
P1769:6, 159:5.4
"You should love your neighbor as yourself.
P1769:7, 159:5.5
"For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying, fear not; I
will help you.
P1769:8, 159:5.6
"Neither shall the nations learn war any more."
P1769:9, 159:5.7
And this is illustrative of the way Jesus, day by day, appropriated the cream
of the Hebrew scriptures for the instruction of his followers and for inclusion
in the teachings of the new gospel of the kingdom. Other religions had suggested
the thought of the nearness of God to man, but Jesus made the care of God
for man like the solicitude of a loving father for the welfare of his dependent
children and then made this teaching the cornerstone of his religion. And
thus did the doctrine of the fatherhood of God make imperative the practice
of the brotherhood of man. The worship of God and the service of man became
the sum and substance of his religion. Jesus took the best of the Jewish religion
and translated it to a worthy setting in the new teachings of the gospel of
the kingdom.
P1769:10, 159:5.8
Jesus put the spirit of positive action into the passive doctrines of the
Jewish religion. In the place of negative compliance with ceremonial requirements,
Jesus enjoined the positive doing of that which his new religion required
of those who accepted it . Jesus' religion consisted not merely in believing,
but in actually doing, those things which the gospel required.
He did not teach that the essence of his religion consisted in social service,
but rather that social service was one of the certain effects of the possession
of the spirit of true religion.
P1770:1, 159:5.9
Jesus did not hesitate to appropriate the better half of a Scripture while
he repudiated the lesser portion. His great exhortation, "Love your neighbor
as yourself," he took from the Scripture which reads: "You shall not take
vengeance against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor
as yourself." Jesus appropriated the positive portion of this Scripture while
rejecting the negative part. He even opposed negative or purely passive nonresistance.
Said he: "When an enemy smites you on one cheek, do not stand there dumb and
passive but in positive attitude turn the other; that is, do the best thing
possible actively to lead your brother in error away from the evil paths into
the better ways of righteous living." Jesus required his followers to react
positively and
aggressively to every life situation. The turning of the other
cheek, or whatever act that may typify, demands initiative, necessitates vigorous,
active, and courageous expression of the believer's personality.
P1770:2, 159:5.10
Jesus did not advocate the practice of negative submission to the indignities
of those who might purposely seek to impose upon the practitioners of nonresistance
to evil, but rather that his followers should be wise and alert in the quick
and positive reaction of good to evil to the end that they might effectively
overcome evil with good. Forget not, the truly good is invariably more powerful
than the most malignant evil. The Master taught a positive standard of righteousness:
"Whosoever wishes to be my disciple, let him disregard himself and take up
the full measure of his responsibilities daily to follow me." And he so lived
himself in that "he went about doing good." And this aspect of the gospel
was well illustrated by many parables which he later spoke to his followers.
He never exhorted his followers patiently to bear their obligations but rather
with energy and enthusiasm to live up to the full measure of their human responsibilities
and divine privileges in the kingdom of God.
P1770:3, 159:5.11
When Jesus instructed his apostles that they should, when one unjustly took
away the coat, offer the other garment, he referred not so much to a literal
second coat as to the idea of doing something positive to save the
wrongdoer in the place of the olden advice to
retaliate -- "an eye for an
eye" and so on. Jesus abhorred the idea either of retaliation or of becoming
just a passive sufferer or victim of injustice. On this occasion he taught
them the three ways of contending with, and resisting, evil:
- To return evil for evil -- the positive but unrighteous method.
- To suffer evil without complaint and without resistance -- the purely negative method.
- To return good for evil, to assert the will so as to become master of the situation, to overcome evil with good -- the positive and righteous method.
P1770:7, 159:5.12 One of the apostles once asked: "Master, what should I do if a stranger forced me to carry his pack for a mile?" Jesus answered: "Do not sit down and sigh for relief while you berate the stranger under your breath. Righteousness comes not from such passive attitudes. If you can think of nothing more effectively positive to do, you can at least carry the pack a second mile. That will of a certainty challenge the unrighteous and ungodly stranger."
P1770:8, 159:5.13 The Jews had heard of a God who would forgive repentant sinners and try to forget their misdeeds, but not until Jesus came, did men hear about a God who went in search of lost sheep, who took the initiative in looking for sinners, and who rejoiced when he found them willing to return to the Father's house. This positive note in religion Jesus extended even to his prayers. And he converted the negative golden rule into a positive admonition of human fairness.
P1771:1, 159:5.14 In all his teaching Jesus unfailingly avoided distracting details. He shunned flowery language and avoided the mere poetic imagery of a play upon words. He habitually put large meanings into small expressions. For purposes of illustration Jesus reversed the current meanings of many terms, such as salt, leaven, fishing, and little children. He most effectively employed the antithesis, comparing the minute to the infinite and so on. His pictures were striking, such as, "The blind leading the blind." But the greatest strength to be found in his illustrative teaching was its naturalness. Jesus brought the philosophy of religion from heaven down to earth. He portrayed the elemental needs of the soul with a new insight and a new bestowal of affection.