Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Knowing Christ "as he is"

Mary Angelita Ruiz, an assistant editor of the montly journal First Things, writes this morning over on the On the Public Square: Observations and Contentions blog about some recent trends in contemporary Christianity to reclaim our Lord from various or perceived distortions. She does a great job of showing that some of these efforts have antecedents in the Tradition. Sadly, these new movements seem blissfully unaware of the Tradition, which makes them prone to over-simplification and exaggeration that make them somewhat spiritually dangerous. Her observations are well worth reading. I give nothing away by posting her conclusion, which is wise because she simply tells the truth:

"The aim of meditating on Christ is to know him and love him—all of him: the judge, the spouse, the brother, the child, the friend, the king, the shepherd. The aim of imitating Christ is to become like him. There are no shortcuts. Slogans, self-help books, rallies, makeovers—these will not substitute for worship of Christ, not as we might like him to be, but as he is."

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