The first bit (the quote) is an extract from ‘Sophie’s World’ and the second part is just my own comment about it :)
This was a dramatic shift in the meaning of an age-old expression with warlike overtones. People were expecting a military leader who would soon proclaim the establishment of the Kingdom of God, and along comes Jesus in kirtle and sandals telling them that the Kingdom of God - or the “new covenant” - is that you must “love thy neighbor as thyself.” But that was not all, Sophie, he also said that we must love our enemies. When they strike us, we must not retaliate; we must even turn the other cheek. And we must forgive - not seven times but seventy times seven.
Jesus himself demonstrated that he was not above talking to harlots, corrupt usurers, and the politically subversive. But he went even further: he said that a good-for-nothing who had squandered all his father’s inheritance - or a humble publican who has pocketed official funds - is righteous before God when he repents and prays for forgiveness, so great is God’s mercy.
But hang on - he went a step further: Jesus said that such sinners were more deserving of God’s forgiveness than the spotless Pharisees who went about flaunting their virtue.
Jesus pointed out that nobody can earn God’s mercy. We cannot redeem ourselves (as many of the Greeks believed). The severe ethical demands made by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount were not only to teach what the will of God meant, but also to show that no man is righteous in the eyes of God. God’s mercy is boundless, but we have to turn to God and pray for his forgiveness.
I shall leave a more thorough study of Jesus and his teachings to your religion teacher. He will have quite a task. I hope he will succeed in showing what an exceptional man Jesus was. In an ingenious way he used the language of his time to give the old war cries a totally new and broader content. It’s not surprising that he ended on the Cross. His radical tidings of redemption were at odds with so many interests and power factors that he had to be removed.
When we talked about Socrates, we saw how dangerous it could be to appeal to people’s reason. With Jesus we see how dangerous it can be to demand unconditional brotherly love and unconditional forgiveness. Even in the world of today we can see how mighty powers can come apart at the seams when confronted with simple demands for peace, love, food for the poor, and amnesty for the enemies of the state.
You may recall how incensed Plato was that the most righteous man in Athens had to forfeit his life. According to Christian teachings, Jesus was the only righteous person who ever lived. Nevertheless he was condemned to death. Christians say he died for the sake of humanity. This is what Christians usually call the “Passion” of Christ. Jesus was the “suffering servant” who bore the sins of humanity in order that we could be “atoned” and saved from God’s wrath." —
“Sophie’s World” - Jostein Gaarder
Jostein Gaarder was raised Pedagogical - with a belief in the holistic science of education. He is an activist for human rights and sustainable development. Gaarder was a teacher of philosophy, and published many short stories and two novels, one of which, “Sophie’s World”, has been translated into fifty-three languages.
Whilst I admit that I am biased in posting this extract from the novel, Gaarder’s religious beliefs are largely unknown. These are his musings on Jesus and Christianity, and are an interesting perspective if you take the time to read them.
I remember the poems
you used to write, when
no one was looking.
And when the stars
were the dots on your eyes,
they filled the room with
Hollywood laser light shows.
The kind that send the ill
into foaming mouth fits,
and young children into
comas that last
until their friends,
have grown old
and died, their parents
just skeletons.
So when you asked me
to kiss you on the couch,
and the television
went to commercial:
I forgot about the poems
and the stars and the sick,
because you had me
by the thick
of my neck, pulling me
into your mouth-
Harder and harder,
until the lungs in my chest
went flat, like the piece
of paper I would eventually
end up on.
I remember when
you used to write.
And I will always,
remember when you stopped.
