CONFUSING THE MESSENGER WITH THE MESSAGE
- Juan Carlos Erdozain Rivera, MBA
- Apr 10
- 4 min read
From a young age, I began to question the belief systems I was raised with. Today, I respectfully define myself as a "Renegade Catholic."
My resistance is not towards spirituality, but towards those stories that seem more like myths and legends than universal truths, and that often obscure the true essence of the transcendent.
GOD IN THE IMAGE OF MAN
We endow the divine with anthropomorphic characteristics, attributing to it human passions such as hatred, anger, and revenge. One need only look at the stories of the Old Testament, specifically the Garden of Eden, to find a God who seems more like an implacable judge than a source of unconditional love.
THE MYTH OF ORIGINAL SIN
This story is, in reality, a metaphor for the spiritual evolution of humanity. It's the moment we ceased to be mere instinctive creatures and began to develop emotions (the limbic system) and, ultimately, the capacity for abstract reasoning and moral conscience (the neocortex). It wasn't a fall, but an awakening.
HOLY WEEK: SALVATION OR LOSS?
The question is, if there was no original sin, what was the purpose of a Messiah?
It is likely that the ecclesiastical institution went astray in the year 325, during the Council of Nicaea, where two fundamental visions clashed:
Arianism (Arius of Alexandria)
Based on the teachings of Arius, he held that Jesus was an extraordinary being, the highest of creatures, but created by God and not eternal.
The central tenet of Arianism was to protect the oneness and absolute transcendence of God the Father . For Arius, if Jesus (the Son) was equal to God the Father, then there were two gods, which undermined the radical monotheism he championed.
Key point, "There was a time when the Son did not exist" (in Greek: en pote hote ouk en ).
The Most Perfect Creature
For Arius, Jesus was the pre-existent Logos (the Word), God's first and greatest creation, through whom God created the universe. But, in the end, he was a creature .
Subordination: the Son was subordinate to the Father in being and essence. He did not share the same substantial divine nature.
Meaning, if Jesus was a creature (albeit the most exalted), he was not God in the fullest sense. This posed a serious problem for salvation: Can a creature save humanity?
The Nicene Doctrine (Athanasius of Alexandria and Catholicism)
Based on the teachings of Athanasius, he affirmed that Jesus was "of the same nature" as the Father (homoousios), eternal and uncreated.
When Arianism was declared a heresy, the figure of Jesus became detached from humanity and unattainable. The worship of the "God-Man" was prioritized over the practice of his teachings.
The orthodox response, led by figures like Athanasius, saw Arianism as a mortal threat to Christian salvation. Athanasius's logic was: Only God can save; Jesus saves us; therefore, Jesus must be God .
Key point : Homoousios ("of the same substance" or "consubstantial"). This Greek word was the one the council defined. It means that the Father and the Son share exactly the same divine essence. They are not two gods, but two persons who share a single divine nature.
Eternal and Uncreated, the Son is begotten by the Father, but eternally (there is no "before" or "after"). He is "Light from Light, true God from true God... uncreated," as the Nicene Creed states.
Meaning, because he is fully God, Jesus' sacrifice has infinite value and can truly reconcile humanity with the Creator. By becoming incarnate, God himself became man.
The Council of Nicaea (325) and its resolution
Emperor Constantine, seeking political unity in his empire, convened the council. The vast majority of bishops, troubled by the idea that Jesus was merely a creature, voted in favor of Athanasius's position.
The result was the Nicene Creed , which explicitly states:
"...We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God; begotten of the Father as the Only Begotten, that is, of the substance (ousia) of the Father, God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God; begotten, not made; consubstantial (homoousion) with the Father..."
CONSEQUENCES
Excommunication of Arius: Arius and his teachings were condemned as heresy.
The Nicene doctrine , the basis of Orthodoxy, became the foundation of Christian theology (Catholic, Orthodox and later Protestant) on the Trinity and the person of Christ.
Ongoing struggle: Arianism did not disappear immediately; in fact, it gained much political power in later decades and even several emperors were Arians, but it eventually declined within the Roman Empire.
WORSHIPING THE MESSENGER
The philosopher Alan Watts says that the problem is that we have dedicated ourselves to worshipping the messenger instead of following the path that Jesus came to show us, who was undoubtedly a being with extraordinary abilities, but his message was not an invitation to submission, but to spiritual empowerment.
Perhaps the greatest mistake of recent centuries has been our inability to question for fear of the storm. However, the answer lies not in external dogma, but in the capacity each of us has to find our own light.
It doesn't matter so much what you believe in, but whether that belief makes you a better person. If it makes you more human, more compassionate, and freer, then you're on the right path.
"You are the guiding light, even in your own storm."
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