only way to have a salvational religion is through the intrusion in my life of a strangely significant other, this "other" is indispensable for the ongoing story. Without "resurrection" the story cannot be told.
...Salvational religion depends, then, on "conversion", "resurrection", "radical change" on the basis of a life lived with another.
...In a salvational religion, one does not spiritual 10 by learning about some truth, fact, or person. All that is teacherly and noble, but it is not part of a salvational scenario. In a sin and salvation story, one comes to a new state by living with another.
...Does Jesus conform to the pattern of the great spiritual masters? He does not. The norm for spiritual masterhood is that one be a great teacher of enlightenment, spiritual wisdom, or the tranquil mind. Jesus is not a teacher, he is a savior.
Consider a great teacher. Socrates is a good example. Socrates is a master of spiritual enlightenment...He claims to know nothing; he only asks a few tricky questions...Socrates wants to make sure that the pupil is attached to the truth, not to Socrates.
Buddha is an examplar of a great "religious" teacher under the same Socratic self discipline.
Buddha is not a savior, He is the Enlightened One. He has seen the truths of human life, and he offers the Noble Eightfold Path as a guide to similar enlightenment and release from suffering..
In contrast to these great teachers, one would have to say that Jesus evidently misunderstands how teaching is played out. Jesus doesn't have students, he has disciples. And not accidentally. Jesus says, "he who believes in ME shall never die." Not who believes in my teaching, but who believes in ME. That claim will not get you the E. Harris Harbison Award for teaching. What Jesus "knows" is not enlightenment; he knows the Father.
"Only the Son knows the Father. He who knows ME knows the Father. Only through ME can one come to the Father.
Whatever else Christianity may be, it seems on its face clearly to be a religion which preaches salvation and a savior. Before one becomes instantly bored with that idea, it is important to note that most other significanr spiritual contenders not only don't preach salvation, in some cases they positively dislike it. Islam is a case in point. Muslims find the Christian notion of a savior demeaning both to the saver and the saved.
...For enlightenment and morality one needs teachers, not saviors. The distinction is crucial. On the whole, religions of morality or enlightenment are much more palatable to contemporary American taste. They have two distinct advantages over the Biblical tradition. In the first place they appear to be do-it-yourself spiritualities. This conforms to an American taste for independence and self-reliance. Although great teachers are valuable in these traditions, they are also dispensable, and one can be self-taught. One cannot be self-saved in the Biblical story. The second advantage of religions of enlightenment and morality is that they can dispense of most theological machinery. If there are Gods at all - and in Buddhism there