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The Universal Christ: How a Forgotten Reality Can Change Everything We See, Hope For and Believe

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The Universal Christ is the unfolding and revelation of God throughout time and history. Perhaps to show that these ideas are not heretical, Rohr begins by quoting Karl Rahner, one of the central theologians of 20 th century Catholicism, in the frontmatter to The Universal Christ: “The only really absolute mysteries in Christianity are the self-communication of God in the depths of existence — which we call grace, and in history — which we call Christ.” Revelation: not a distinct, self-disclosure of God, occurring in history. Instead it happens everywhere at all times: “This book . . . [seeks] to reground Christianity as a natural religion and not one simply based on a special revelation, available only to a few.” Rohr’s spirituality is naturalistic, and “the mental distinction between ‘natural’ and supernatural’ . . . falls apart” (7). Jesus used strong language against the errors of some of the religious leaders of His day (see Matthew 23). The problem with Rohr isn’t that he has adopted certain theologically debatable positions. It’s that the indispensable, all-transforming, holy mystery of the gospel . . . is not even there. In its place is emptiness.

Grace had already been granted to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, and now it has been revealed to us in the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. —2 Timothy 1:9-10 And this transaction does lead to godly transformation. Christ-followers are forgiven of their sins, justified, given the righteousness of Christ, born again, filled with the Holy Spirit, made agents of God’s unstoppable and eternal Kingdom, and given a new dynamic to worship God and serve their neighbor in the Holy Spirit’s power through plenteous good works (James 2:14–26; Ephesians 2:8–10; John 15:1–8). That is the real gospel. That is what turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). That is what can turn the world upside down again. 26 Rohr’s false religion will not. Given Rohr’s emanational metaphysics based on the Perennial Tradition, it is no surprise that he distorts the gospel. If God loves the world by becoming it, then there is no sin to be atoned for through Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on the cross. 23 Rohr says we should contemplate this idea: “I have never been separate from God, nor can I be, except in my mind” (44). This cuts against the grain of the biblical understanding of the fall and sin and undermines the biblical account of salvation. I cite only Isaiah to refute Rohr: “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). See Douglas Groothuis, “Pantheism and Panentheism,” in Paul Copan, et al., Dictionary of Christianity and Science (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017). The word panentheism does not appear in The Universal Christ.It was the hardest book I ever wrote. … I knew I had to say this and I've got nothing to lose at my age," he said, stopping to greet several members of his four-dozen-strong staff, the CAC office buzzing with activity in preparation for The Universal Christ conference in the Albuquerque Convention Center.

What if we’ve missed the point of who Christ is, what Christ is, and where Christ is? I believe that a Christian is simply one who has learned to see Christ everywhere. ( Sunday)We can rightly assume that Jesus is very much involved in the sustaining and redemption of all of creation. Colossians 1:20 states that Christ will “reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” And Romans 8:22 says that “the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Thus, we can agree that Christ is the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of the entire cosmos. Christ is deeply concerned with the entire creation. Against traditional teaching, Rohr claims that a “first incarnation” occurred when God created the world. There is an obvious problem: if God is personal Being, then how could God enter into “incarnation” with the physical universe without thereby becoming impersonal? As personal beings, you and I cannot become incarnate in inanimate things. How much less could God become incarnate in stone, ocean, or atmosphere? It demeans the Incarnate One to suggest otherwise.

Resurrection: “the general principle of all reality,” and “resurrection [is] another word for change” (170–1). On Easter Sunday “one circumscribed body of Jesus morphed into ubiquitous Light” (176). He adds: “If a video camera had been placed in front of the tomb of Jesus, it wouldn’t have filmed a lone man emerging from a grave . . . [but] something like beams of light extending in all directions” (177). Yet Rohr cheekily affirms that “I am quite conservative and orthodox by most standards on this important issue [of Jesus’s resurrection]” (172). However, it seems that advocates of the Cosmic Christ idea do not view the creation as being in bondage to brokenness and sin as a result of the fall (Genesis 3); rather, they believe that, in connecting with the Cosmic Christ, one will see the value and beauty in all things. Mankind itself is beautiful and wonderful because Christ is in all things. Embracing the Universal Christ concept leads to an over-emphasis on Christ sustaining and being in all things and to a de-emphasis of the brokenness of all things and the sin of mankind. Advocates of the Cosmic Christ see Christ as manifested in other religions, just in different terms and persons. Thus, the biblical gospel and the need for forgiveness are disregarded. Douglas Groothuis, Jesus In an Age of Controversy (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1996). See also Ron Rhodes, The Counterfeit Christ of the New Age Movement (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1991). Rohr has been writing about “non-dual” thinking, as well as “Oneing” and other similar terms, for several books now, and this broad sweep approach to understanding faith can be freeing. The Universal Christ takes similar adventurous turns at big ideas in “Another Name for Every Thing” (Part 1), and “The Great Comma” (Part 2).I take four horse pills every day that amount to oral chemotherapy," Rohr told Religion News Service on a chilly morning as he strolled the grounds of the CAC in late March. "That I could have two things that would normally be fatal and still be sitting here? I am nothing but grateful for the miracle of modern medicine."

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