I cannot confirm nor deny that Jesus Christ existed sometime, somewhere, in the history of earth, But if he did, and events unfolded as was said in the Bible, I believe the death of Jesus, or at least the claim that he did it for our sins, is symbolic. Jesus sacrificed himself to be a symbol. I had this epiphany in a quiet car ride home in silence, as I explored my own thoughts. Jesus probably knew that most people wouldn’t be able to truly recognize their own divinity and was to be that conduit. So that people can learn to forgive themselves. Because if people are burdened by their guilt, they live a life of pain - or in this case, hell. To guilt yourself is to reject yourself, and to reject yourself is to reject “God.” Jesus used himself as a way for the average person to love themselves and forgive themselves through him, because for one reason or another, they don’t recognize their true nature: that they are all reflections of God, and our essence is Love - Something else that he sought to show us.
I’d like to preface that I recognize my lack of credibility, though, as I have not read the Bible in all its entirety and am only going on what I’ve read so far, and what I’ve learned from available sources from my own research.
I think most organized religion resists beliefs like mine because it dissolves hierarchy (no need for priests as intermediaries) and makes salvation a realization, not a ritual. Traditionalists might fear chaos, and like the structure of power and hierarchy, which needs “correct answers.” Jesus wasn’t my conduit for finding “heaven,” But everybody’s faith and experiences are conduits for getting closer to this truth.
Per Jesus’ own words, Luke 17:21 says, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” The peace, love, and connection we seek - Or rather, the kingdom of heaven- lives within us. Is it possible that Jesus didn’t mean to teach that he alone was the way in a literal sense? Perhaps things get lost in translation, and that claim is said in context to the time period. I interpret that Jesus was referring to his teachings and the path he embodied and his way of life (love, selflessness, union with the Divine) rather than asserting exclusivity and the worship of him alone being the only path to “salvation.” But the beauty of it lies in that being my interpretation. I’d like to emphasize that my faith, like all faith, is deeply personal. I respect it all - Because maybe, Jesus intuitively knew many would not be capable of seeing the non-duality of existence, and that we and God are one and the same. So the Bible is written or told in a way to get people living in the material, relatively close to spirituality in some form - keeping their own beautiful connection to the divine, in whatever form it may take - alive. At the same time, he leaves the deeper message in his words intact for those with the eyes to see it.
We need no middleman to be close to God. We are all God and beautiful expressions of it. Everything is God, and God is Love, and everything is Love. That’s what Jesus was trying to teach. He realized that man was God, and he, as god in the flesh, was proof of that potential. He himself alludes to this when he quotes Psalm 82:6 ("You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High") to hint at the divine potential in all people. That’s why they crucified him and labeled him a heretic. To further drive in my point that the understanding of the Bible is subjective, one has to understand that Jesus did not write the New Testament, or any part of the Bible really, and the part of the Bible containing his teachings are just personal accounts and interpretations of Jesus’ words, rather than direct translation of his thoughts - so things are bound to be lost in translation. One must also understand these teachings in relation to the context of the time period, and be open to the idea that actions and values of back then might have had different connotations than they do today. In addition, His critiques of religious hypocrisy (e.g., Matthew 23) support the idea that he rejected rigid intermediaries between humans and the Divine. Organized religion is a cultural and rigid view of teachings rooted ultimately in other people’s interpretations that people adopt and choose to believe.
However, I don’t believe traditional Christians or any other religion are wrong for that matter, I believe everything lines up the way it’s supposed to. Even people’s beliefs, and all the “bad” things in the world. It’s all perfect. And everyone is me as well. I can’t judge them and their decisions. They’re only doing all they ever could with all they ever knew.
In 1 Corinthians 13:12 Paul says,"For now we see in a mirror dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."
For context, ancient mirrors were murky compared to those of today. This alludes to the fact that we have a limited and incomplete understanding of the divine or spiritual. Paul admits that human understanding is partial, dim, and distorted. No one has the complete picture, myself included. Dogma is limited—what traditional Christians call "absolute truth" is still just a reflection of the Divine, not the whole picture. "As I am fully known" suggests that Truth isn’t something we grasp—it’s what already holds us. Paul hints that full knowledge comes only when we meet God "face to face"—beyond concepts, beyond "right" vs. "wrong" paths. If God is all-in-all (1 Cor 15:28), then judging others as 'wrong' is judging an illusion. Paul’s own admission, “I know in part" - undermines religious arrogance.
But even then, I recognize that even rigid Christians are playing their part in the whole; it’s all perfect, even the crucifixion. For without it, the resurrection - the revelation of indestructible divine life would not have shone. The same applies to religious conflict: The friction between exclusivism and universalism generates the heat needed for deeper awakening.
As Rumi wrote: "Where there is ruin, there is hope for treasure."
The judgment of traditional Christians and others who may see my beliefs as wrong
is just another expression of divine play—part of the tapestry of beliefs that make up this world.
As the Sufis say: "You are Truth, through You, to You, from You."
We are all expressions of God—not seekers of God, but seekers as God.
- Hindu Advaita: "Tat Tvam Asi" (You are That)
- Meister Eckhart: "The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me."
- Jesus in Thomas 3: "The Kingdom is inside you and outside you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known."
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