When asked which of the Jewish laws were most important, Jesus managed to summarize the Bible in a few sentences (Mark 12:28-31): "The first is 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these. "

Jesus referred to God as _Abba_ which is best translated into English as "Daddy". How could a god called "Daddy" be a fearsome god? The god of Jesus was a kind, loving, forgiving god who laughs with us, who delights in our triumphs, who is saddened by our losses, and who wants happiness for all.

He gave us a few simple rules to live by: (Luke 6:31) "Do to others as you would have them do to you."and (Luke 6:37) "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."

He repeatedly taught that we should perfect ourselves before we tried to perfect others (Matthew 7: 3-5): "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye."

Jesus freely taught women, delighted in them when they learned, and encouraged them to teach his message to others in a time when women were considered little more than slaves. (Too bad Saul of Tarsus wrote his letters before the Gospels were written.) Jesus was so considerate of women that he "astonished" his disciples. (The Samaritan at the well in John 4, Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42, the Syro-Phoenician woman in Mark 7:24-30)

Jesus was the source of many pithy sayings: "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24) and "No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one or love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth" (Luke 16:13).

He warned us of the corrupting influence of money: in Matthew 6:19-20 Jesus said: " Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasurer is, there your heart will be also."

Some go so far as to consider Jesus the first communist to make it into print. When the rich man asked Jesus how he could get into heaven, Jesus replied "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." (Mark 10:21)

Jesus taught that God was not impressed by public prayers (Matthew 6:5-6): " And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who sees in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Makes you wonder if televangelists ever read the Bible.

In the story of the money changers in the temple (Matthew 21:12-13), he grew angry at people who made a profit from God saying: "It is written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer'; but you are making it a den of robbers." What would he say of Jerry Falwell hawking that tape about Clinton?

Some truly bizarre teachings are attributed to Jesus (Matthew 19:12): "For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can." Origen ( c. 185 - 254), a Father of the Church, considered by some the most accomplished biblical scholar of the early Christian church, took this injunction a bit too literally, accounting for his misogyny.1 Self-castration was so widespread that it had to be forbidden by the church in the fourth century.

But again and again, Jesus taught tolerance of others, compassion for the unfortunate, love of one's neighbor, peace, dignity for all men, and a liberating feminism. He knew his anti-patriarchal, anti-establishment message was revolutionary and that it would prove divisive (Luke 12:51-53): "Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

Whether you call Jesus of Nazareth Lord, Savior, and Redeemer or mearly man, may this holiday season and the new year grant you health, the love of family and friends, peace, wealth, and joy. I would also like to invite readers of all faiths to share their religious traditions with us throughout the new year.

Biblical quotes taken from NRSV Bible

1 _The Subordinated Sex: A History of Attitudes Toward Women_, Vern L. Bullough, Brenda Shelton, Sarah Salvin, University of Georgia Press, 1988, page 85

It is a fact beyond question that there are two kinds of Christian experience, one of which is an experience of bondage, and the other an experience of liberty.
            Hannah Whitall Smith, _The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life_(1870)

Christian ideology has contributed no little to the oppression of woman.
            Simone De Beauvoir, _The Second Sex_ (1949)

quotable quotes taken from _The Beacon Book of Quotations by Women_, complied by Rosalie Maggio, Beacon Press, 1992

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