I ENDED THE PREVIOUS POST by claiming that Jesus held a belief which was so obvious, but also so contrary to traditional theology, that it was often overlooked, and by claiming that belief had something in common with atheism.

There isn't a whole lot of difference, in practice, between saying, "there is no God," and saying, "everyone is God."

Consider the following.

Item: Jesus called himself "the son of man". This fit quite nicely with the belief, rooted deeply in the ancient Hebrew scriptures, that all species reproduced "after their kind", that the children of a man were "made in his image and likeness".

Item: Jesus repeatedly used this theme in various ways. One famous case was the "give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" line, when he reminded the Pharisees that they were made in the image of God. (Interesting, both because they were not his favorite people, and because he wasn't talking about himself.)

Item: When Jesus was accused of making himself equal to God, because he called God "Father", he did not deny the charge, but rather pointed out that the Hebrew scriptures contained other examples of humans being called the sons of God.

Item: One of the gospels actually establishes Jesus' divinity by tracing his genealogy back through the human race to "the son of Adam, who was the son of God".

What single fact do all these items point to?

It is quite clear, to anyone who has not had their mind constrained by orthodoxy, that Jesus did think he was divine, but that he thought this because he thought that all humans were divine—all children of Adam the son of God, all made in God's likeness, all filled with God's spirit and breath.

That is why he taught his disciples to call God "Father". It's why (as the Gospels tell the story) he expected them to be able to perform the same miracles he performed. And it's why his earliest followers called him "the path" or "the way" which they fully expected to be able to walk themselves.

How does this relate to atheism?

What I want to suggest is that, at root, this basic teaching of Jesus had, for his time and culture, the very same motivation as the modern stance of an atheist.

There isn't a whole lot of difference, in practice, between saying, "there is no God," and saying, "everyone is God." In the end, both have the pragmatic effect of killing the authoritarian version of God.

If everyone is God, then all authority is vested in everyone equally, and the group can only have whatever authority the individuals give it.

Just as it is if there is no God.

If everyone is God, then meaning gets defined by the individual, rather than the authorities.

Just as if there were no God.

If everyone is God, then as time went on people would have to modify their world-view to eliminate the supernatural—it being obvious that that which God can't perceive must not exist.

Just as if they were atheists.

So it works out that Jesus' worldview was the functional equivalent of atheism. The form of his belief was different, but the purpose it served was the same.

Both Jesus and the modern atheists are motivated by the dangers of authoritarianism, and the value of the individual.

Both see a retreat to legalism, authority, the conservative traditions of their time, and the religion handed down to them as dangerous and filled with hypocrisy.

Both tend to see the need for fresh and open thought, for valuing community and individualism, for basing behavior on personal power, love, and mutual caring.

They just use different models.

So, if you are an atheist, remember that Jesus is your friend.

And, if you are a fundamentalist—the equivalent, in our time, of a pharisee—remember that he still thought you were divine, no matter what he thought of your legalism.

At least, that's what I think today.