Using the phrase “in the name of Jesus,” has become a Christian catchphrase that cannot be ignored in any prayer, declaration, decree, preaching, event, sermon, etc. For many years, it has been believed that this phrase has a certain mystical or powerful charge in the spiritual world, and its misuse can cause prayers to be ineffective, or simply ignored by God.
Abrazando mi ateo interior, me percato de algunas situaciones que quisiera se consideraran:
Si bien Dios es el mismo ayer hoy y siempre, en el Antiguo Testamento leemos que él es demasiado violento. Así se manifiesta en todas las guerras en las que ordenaba aniquilar pueblos enteros sin tener piedad de nadie (a propósito, no se encuentra mucha diferencia entre estos textos y el actuar en la actualidad de argunos grupos extremistas religiososde Oriente Medio).
In this scenario, Jesus comes up with a very interesting and revolutionary message for his time. He intends to introduce the image of God as the Father among the Jews. Let us remember that when Jesus walked in First Century Palestine, the entire territory was under the rule of Rome, achieved through war and barbarism.
On the one hand, there is a group of believers who maintain that God indeed ordered each of the wars described in the biblical text, with all their barbarities, attacks, children dashed against rocks, etc. Most of those who defend this idea explain that God manifested himself in one way in the Hebrew Bible and in a different way in the New Testament, being the same God, but with different plans for each moment in history
Embracing my inner atheist, I notice some situations that I would like to consider: Although God is the same yesterday, today, and always, in the Hebrew Bible we read that God is too violent. This is manifested in all the wars in which God ordered the annihilation of entire towns without having mercy on anyone (by the way, there is not much difference between these texts and the current actions of some extremists, violent groups in the world, specially in the Middle East).
Veo por la televisión las atroces imágenes de gentes aterrorizadas que buscan refugio, después de haberse jugado la vida cruzando el mar a bordo de pequeños barcos de papel. Detrás tienen la muerte que los espera con sus fauces abiertas una vez más. Delante se encuentran con vallas levantadas por gobiernos que supuran miedo al diferente, ordenando a sus lacayos que repelan con uñas y dientes la avalancha de los nadies. Y no puedo más que recordar a Jesús de Nazaret…
I see on television and social media the atrocious images of terrified people seeking refuge after having risked their lives crossing the sea aboard small paper boats. Behind them is death that awaits them with its jaws open once again. Ahead, they find fences erected by governments that exude fear of the different, ordering their lackeys to repel the avalanche of nobodies. And I can only remember Jesus of Nazareth…
Muchas lineas se han dedicado para hablar de la oración. Casi que cada disidencia del cristianismo tiene una postura diferente sobre el poder de esta o su aplicabilidad. Incluso, muchos debates se suscitan en diferentes medios, llegando a desembocar en acaloradas discusiones sobre la pertinencia de orar de una u otra manera de acuerdo al mandato bíblico.
Many words have been dedicated to understanding matters around prayer. Almost every current of Christianity has a different position on its power or its applicability. Many debates even arise in different media, leading to heated discussions about the relevance of praying in one way or another according to the biblical mandate or personal and community experiences.
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Where the invisible throw shadows,
the weak lead, the silent are heard,
and the pushed aside
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